This system seeks to improve the processes of reaction, attention and speed of information processing in athletes. Today it is used by renowned clubs in the world of football, basketball, rugby, tennis, and contact sports such as karate, taekwondo and boxing.
Conceived by Daniel Badanian, a graduate in Physical Education, and made possible thanks to the collaboration of multiple actors, including BQN in the development of the hardware, Neural Trainer is positioned in the market as an innovative training system with great results.
Neuroscience applied to sport
"I studied neuroscience applied to sport for several years and I noticed that there was a lack of instruments/tools to apply the advances coming from the scientific field to training," explains Badanian.
The project had two stages: first a mental and methodological design, and then a second stage to materialize it with the technologies that existed at the time. In 2017 they turned to BQN for the production and development of the first sales prototypes. They needed a robust product that BQN quickly knew how to design and in the middle of that year they started selling the system.
How does Neural Trainer work?
The kit consists of an app that communicates with several wireless devices (nodes) composed of an LED display that allows you to configure different stimuli such as numbers, colors, letters and shapes.
"These wireless nodes are placed at floor or wall level and have a matrix of LED lights that are turned on and off by the athlete. How do you turn them off? Through a proximity sensor. As an example, if a red circle lights up, the athlete has to touch it and if another shape lights up, the athlete does not. This helps to exercise quick and correct decision making", exemplifies Bruno Bellini, Hardware Manager at BQN and leader of the project with Neural Trainer.
The multiplicity of stimuli as a differential
Although there are other devices in the world that are focused on improving the ability to react, Neural Trainer allows you to develop training in a more comprehensive way, applying visual, cognitive and physical stimuli at the same time.
"We have differentials in terms of both hardware and software. Each coach can adapt the system to his taste, to the level of the athletes and their preparation," explains Badanian.
Neural Trainer applies to both a high performance elite athlete training as well as an amateur team. What varies is the complexity given by each trainer in the configuration of the exercises. It allows you to configure the hardware with different types of symbols, as well as letters and numbers. In short, it supports a "multiplicity of stimuli" and that differentiates it from other training systems.
At the software level, they also have their own cognitive training program, through which it is possible to stimulate visual and cognitive skills such as memory and selective attention through movement.
Moreover, once the training is finished, coaches can download the information and observe how the athletes' performance has evolved.
Global Impact
In addition to having great acceptance in Uruguay, the system has expanded to several countries around the world such as Brazil, Chile, Argentina, Arabia, Israel and Spain, among others.
"The impact has been enormous, much more than we expected. We've had requests from all over the world," explains Badanian. They have received inquiries from Canada, USA, Spain, Romania, Israel, Sweden and most of Latin America. Today they have a waiting list of more than 15 systems.
Working in synergy
"The work with BQN has been very good and with a lot of growth on both sides. We always aim for a top quality product. With cutting-edge technologies and that can be used in the best clubs in Latin America and the world. In a short time we were able to get a very robust and stable product," says Badanian.
The creator of Neural Trainer also highlights Bruno Bellini's interest in sport, who from the very first moment knew how to understand the needs of his product and put himself in the shoes of the trainer and the athlete, optimizing results.
Bellini also adds that for this project BQN worked "almost like a co-working space", in which Daniel, being the client, was accommodated in the offices to talk to clients, try things out, and so on. "It was a very enriching experience," he adds.
Neural Trainer is currently working on the launch of an updated system: Neural Trainer 2.0. It is a more robust system, which withstands impact, shocks and has more features.
About the Neural Trainer Kit
The kit comes with proximity and touch sensors. These sensors contain a led display that allows you to configure different stimuli. The systems come with 4, 6 and 8 sensors. The first one for individual training and the 6 and 8 for group training. At the same time the system comes with a case to carry it and a Tablet that runs the training program, with their respective chargers.
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