AI Case Study

"Under Armour has partnered with IBM to develop “UA Record” - a cognitive coach that serves as a personal health consultant, fitness trainer and assistant by providing users with timely, evidence-based advice regarding nutrition, activity and sleep. Under Armour has developed a range of wearable devices, including a fitness tracker, heart rate monitor chest strap, and smart scales that gather user behavior and health data. The coaching is based on a comparative model, clustering users based on criteria such as age, gender, and activity level in order to provide relevant recommendations for users. The model will, over time, be able to tap into additional data pools to derive novel connections between e.g., weather and training behavior. UA Record not only serves to strengthen customer relationships and build emotional connections but is also able to collect relevant data from customers to cater to needs more efficiently in the future." (Deloitte)

"Through the IBM partnership, Under Armour will add new capabilities over the next year that will allow the Cognitive Coaching System powered by IBM Watson to transform athlete engagement and motivation in the following areas:

Behavioral and Performance management:
Based on Watson’s ability to tap into users behavioral and performance trends tracked via existing Under Armour mobile apps and fitness-tracking devices, the system can customize programs.

Food intake tracking and overall nutrition management:
Based on Watson Visual Recognition and Watson Discovery technology, the arduous and manual process of food logging will be replaced with visual recognition of food images for faster and easier food identification.

How weather and environmental factors effect training:
Based on Watson’s weather domain knowledge combined with the Watson News Service API for integrating daily news sources; and ingesting geospatial data, the system can modify fitness program recommendations based on these outside factors.

Initially, the Cognitive Coaching System will provide insights around four categories, which will be displayed within the newly released UA Record app: SLEEP, FITNESS, ACTIVITY and NUTRITION. The insights originate from three sources, including the Under Armour Connected Fitness community, external academic research studies and institutions, and IBM Watson similarity analytics. These insights will initially be available exclusively within UA Record available on the App Store." (ibm)