1. Before you buy

It is a measuring device for forces and impacts acting on a head while doing sports. The system consist of: a sensor, mobile application and cloud service.

ACT Head Impact Tracker consists of three parts, a head sensor (in the following called “the sensor”), a smartphone mobile App and a Cloud service. When the head sensor detects linear impact of 10g or more, it sends the impact information to a Cloud server via ACT Head Impact Tracker smartphone mobile App. The Cloud server saves the information and sends the information back to the assigned App(s). There are also additional service features and functionalities available and in development, which might differ from or add to this flow, but the basic functionality is this.

Every athlete, coach, trainer, relevant team personnel, and parent can:
1. Track the impacts occurring.
High numerical values indicate more violent impacts.
2. When an impact occurs, act on it.
If no medical professionals are available on site to do the assessment, we recommend using well-established assessment tools, such as Pocket Concussion Recognition Tool 5®.
3. Keep an eye on the impact history.
When did the previous impact occur? How frequently the impacts occur? How many impacts have you had today/this week/this month/…?
4. Increase awareness and understanding, Advocate the change in attitudes and behavior.
Create awareness and understanding by bringing the forces acting on a head visible with objective
measures. Educate when and why they occur and what they may cause. Aim for a good sportsmanship
and increased respect, less risk-taking, using excessive force and foul play.
5. Take a stand and send a message.
Measuring the impacts and acting on them, signals to everyone involved that this matter is with very high significance and closely observed. Incidents will not go unnoticed and will be acted upon. No-one should fear for their life, health or well-being when doing sports. You are riding on the 1st wave to make this change.

Every coach, trainer and relevant team personnel can:
6. Track down the athlete/athletes getting more impacts than their peers.
Address the issue with athletes at risk, reduce the impact load of the individual athlete/-s.
7. Identify the trainings and drills with most head impacts and/or load.
Modify them or lower their frequency in the training plan to decrease the impact load of all the athletes.
8. Identify the playing positions more prone to head impacts.
Keep an eye on the players in those playing positions and modify the training plans to reduce the impact load of the athletes in those positions.
9. Trained eye of a coach may detect technique with need of improvement.
Headings, giving and receiving a tackle for example usually show on the graphical illustrations on the forces. Compare the graphs to detect gaps in techniques.
10. Introduce and apply a suitable sideline procedure.
Demonstrating objectively that impacts are occurring should encourage coaches, trainers and team personnel to introduce and apply suitable sideline procedures.
11. Share with those who care and can help to reduce impact load.
Users can share their impact data with those who should know too. These can be for example parents, coaches, trainers, or co-athletes.
12. Lead the way.
Teams and clubs tracking the head impacts truly aim to do everything they can to monitor athletes on the pitch. Towards safer, healthier and happier sports for everyone.

Last updated: 19th of December 2022

LIST OF MOBILE DEVICES’ FUNCTIONALITY WITH ACT HEAD IMPACT TRACKER

Tested and found working brands (models, Android OS)
1. Samsung Galaxy A21s (AOS 12)
2. Samsung Galaxy A41 (AOS 11)
3. Samsung 9+ (AOS 10)
4. Samsung A40 (AOS 11)
5. Samsung S21 Ultra 5G (A13)
6. Motorola e20 (AOS 11)
7. OnePlus8 (AOS12)
Please note: occasional problems with establishing and maintaining connection between the head sensors and mobile devices (no notification to the App regarding) were recorded:
Samsung phones: a.) in some models Bluetooth® wireless connection was slow or even disconnected if the mobile phone’s screen is switched off (= not lighted). The connection should be re-established and information from the sensors delivered when the screen is switched back on (=lighted) – if the sensor(s) are in the reach of Bluetooth® wireless technology. b.) In all models pop-up window with list of devices for paring appears when Bluetooth® wireless technology is switched on. When this happens, just click “Continue” to close the window. No paring is needed, nor appearing nor choosing it on the list.

Tested and found not working as intended (models, Android OS)
8. Xiaomi Redmi 9a (AOS 10)
Frequent problems with establishing and maintaining connection between the head sensors and mobile devices (no notification to the App regarding) were recorded:
The connection between the sensors and the mobile phone was disconnected when the App was not on, on top of the open Apps and/or screen was switched off (not lighted).

Tested and found not working (models, Android OS)
9. OnePlus Nord N100 (AOS 11)
10. OnePlus8 (AOS13)
ACT Head Impact Tracker does not function with these mobile devices.

Other brands and models have not been tested, and cannot be granted to work, or work as intended with ACT Head Impact Tracker. (If your device is not on the list, it does not guarantee it is functional, or that is not. We just have not tested it yet.)

– ACT Head Impact Tracker is a measuring device to complement doing safe and responsible sports. It is designed for athletes, coaches, trainers and team personnel, co-athletes, families and friends of athletes.

– ACT Head Impact Tracker head sensor has a built-in automatic switch off in 3 hours after switching it on. If your exercise last longer than 3 hours, remember to switch the sensor back on!

– Head sensor is not suitable for children under 3 years old. Contains small parts. Risk of suffocation!

– Children under 16 years old must use the products and services in adult supervision and must not submit any personal information to ACT Head Impact Tracker products or services.

– ACT Head Impact Tracker needs location services and Bluetooth® wireless connection to be enabled, on and active in the mobile device for ACT Head Impact Tracker smartphone mobile App, and always when using it with ACT Head Impact Tracker head sensor. Otherwise, ACT Head Impact Tracker will not function as intended.

– Mobile device with ACT Head Impact Tracker smartphone mobile App must have valid SIM-card or e-SIM with mobile data and roaming (if needed) enabled, on and active, or be connected to Wi-Fi, to enable data transmission from head sensor to the mobile device with the App, from mobile device to the cloud service and from cloud service to the assigned mobile device(s). Otherwise, ACT Head Impact Tracker will not function as intended.

– Be aware of the data transfer range (Bluetooth® wireless connection reach ) limitations between the head sensor and mobile device with the App. The range may vary for multiple reasons. Indoors and in other compromised conditions, in the case of an incident keep the distance between the two as short as possible. The range can be less than 10 meters.

Warnings and Disclaimers

– ACT Head Impact Tracker products or services are not medical devices and do not provide medical advice, any kind of diagnostics or treatment of a health problem. ACT Head Impact Tracker products or services, any content or information there, is not to be used in place of consultation of licensed medical professional. In case of a head impact, or when suspecting one or a concussion, immediately and safely leave the activity and seek help from licensed medical professionals. It is advisable to have an accompanying person if concussion is possible. In case of an emergency, call an ambulance. If you have been given medical advice by a licensed medical professional, always follow that advice despite any information or content in or from ACT Head Impact Tracker. Northern Sports Insight and Intelligence Oy or ACT Head Impact Tracker products and services are no health care specialists, nor is communication between you and us or ACT Head Impact Tracker forming any kind of doctor – patient relationship.

– ACT Head Impact Tracker products or services are not protective devices, they do not prevent incidents from happening and they do not protect against injuries or any kind.

– We do not guarantee that ACT Head Impact Tracker products or services will meet your requirements. We do not guarantee that ACT Head Impact Tracker smartphone mobile App, head sensor hardware or firmware, cloud service or firmware, data transfer or any other part of the products or services, any information obtained or not obtained from using the products or services will be error-free, secure or timely. We do not guarantee that information received or not received when using ACT Head Impact Tracker is accurate or reliable, or that the errors in the product or services are corrected. We cannot guarantee that ACT Head Impact Tracker products or services or any content on them, will always be available or uninterrupted.