This digital ecosystem combines wearable technology that captures an athlete’s sweat rate and electrolyte concentration directly from the skin with a smartphone app that processes the data using machine learning. Once the Sweat Patch’s data is collected via the app, an athlete’s sweat profile can be created. This is combined with scenario-specific details such as activity type, weather, intensity, and duration to generate personalized sports fueling recommendations before, during, and after exercise.
Gatorade Gx App was named an Honoree in the Software and Mobile App category.
Gatorade Gx Sweat Patch was named as Best Technology Innovation.
Gatorade Gx Sweat Patch and App was a Finalist in Best Design North America, General Excellence, and Sports and Recreation categories, and an Honorable Mention in the Products category by the 2021 Fast Company Innovation by Design Awards.
Gatorade Gx Sweat Patch & App was honored as a Finalist in the Wearable Tech category.
Sweat testing uses costly, inaccessible equipment. Gatorade turned to Smart Design to transform this resource-intensive process into a wearable device that is fast, simple, and accessible to everyone.
The Gx Sweat Patch was designed to be an unobtrusive and highly-functional sports accessory by accurately testing and intuitively displaying the two key elements of hydration analytics: sweat rate and electrolyte concentration.
The flexible patch is less than a millimeter thick and adheres to the forearm to maintain watertight contact with the skin. As an athlete sweats, fluid is absorbed through tiny holes in the back of the patch, causing a reaction that displays data in two channels.
The sweat rate is visualized by an orange line that zig-zags across the patch as fluid is absorbed, and the sodium levels are shown by a line on the right side of the patch that changes shades of purple.
Using the Gx app, the qualitative data from the Sweat Patch can be captured and processed with a phone camera using image-recognition technology that was trained with machine learning. Three colored lines on the patch help the smartphone camera understand light levels to ensure accuracy.
The resulting sweat profile is combined with other athlete and activity data (such as weather, weight, duration, and workout intensity) via a proprietary algorithm to show the athlete’s fluid and nutritional needs. A second algorithm is utilized to match those needs to products in the Gatorade Ecosystem for each stage of the workout: preparation, performance, and recovery. These recommendations can be accessed in the app or sent as SMS notifications.
The next stage of developing the Gx Sweat Patch was powered by insights and data gained over several years of working with more than 20 professional sports teams.
The manual sweat testing process undertaken by these pro teams needed to be designed, engineered, and productized in order to scale to everyday athletes.
Concept sketches helped us break out of the mold of the traditional lab-based sweat test.
Working with HS and elite athletes, we tested many variations of patch formats and interactions.
While the in-lab validation of the patch accuracy was conducted, the overall experience and app design was explored in parallel using prototype apps and service workflows. The experience was refined via multiple pilots with elite high school athletes and teams at IMG Academy in Bradenton FL.
Refining the patch and app through in-context evaluative research.
Gatorade’s Sweat Patch and app started piloting in the fall of 2019. The pilot allowed us to hone our computer vision algorithms and test the patch under a variety of conditions to ensure the best results every time. We also used participant feedback to improve user instructions, address challenges with scanning, and ensure that results were communicated effectively.
The GX Sweat Patch launched commercially in March 2021 in Dick’s Sporting Goods stores and online.