Sports

Rising out of the landscape like a series of undulating hills, MAD Architects' Quzhou Sports Park is a large and ambitious project in China. The mixed-use development is now well underway, with the first phase due to be completed in 2021.

You may remember the smart jacket that Google and Levi's launched under the Project Jacquard umbrella – an initiative to add extra smarts to clothing. Now there's a new Jacquard product on sale in the form of smart insoles developed with Adidas.

The automotive consultancy division of Group Lotus has teamed up with Hope Technology for a new track bike aimed at helping the Great Britain Cycling Team to bring home Olympic gold.

People have been casually playing football, soccer, and ultimate frisbee on the beach and at picnics for decades, but basketball? Not so much. Now that's about to get a lot easier with Uball, a portable, easy-to-set-up hoop and backboard that even has its own unique game rules.

​Riding up steep inclines, hopping over rocky obstacles or coming to a dead stop in the middle of a log are among the many thrills to be had from motorcycle trials riding. France's Electric Motion has updated its line of electric motos with three Epure trials bikes and an off-road Escape model.​

The nature of rare finds is that they often turn up in the most unlikely places. After all, if they were sitting in obvious places they wouldn't be such rare finds would they? Such is the case with this 1916 rookie card for baseball great Babe Ruth which was recently sold at auction for US$108,378.

​A couple of years ago, we first heard about a neck band designed to protect athletes from concussions by essentially making their brains bigger. Now, a new study indicates that it does indeed work, protecting wearers against damage caused by smaller hits along with the big ones.

The Quzhou Sports Campus is the latest example of MAD's long-running interest in blending nature and architecture. Currently under construction and due to open in 2021, it will feature a stadium, gymnasium and other sporting attractions – some of which will take the form of undulating hills.

San Francisco's Sufferfest Beer Company has come up with a new brew it claims boasts the electrolytes of some typical sports drinks, with a juicy superfood acting as the nutritional cherry on top. ​

The Playertek is a GPS-enabled tracker device that fits inside a custom-made vest and logs your movements, sprints, and distance doing sports matches – specifically soccer games, in this case. We strapped one on to see whether it could make a difference in a friendly game of five-a-side.

Magic Leap finally revealed its AR goggles in December last year, and bit by bit we are gaining a clearer picture of the headset's functionality. The company has today announced a new partnership with the NBA, which will enable sports fans to view replays of on-court action in three dimensions.​

We traveled to ISPO Munich to see the latest in European outdoor, action sports and fitness gear and innovation. As usual, the "world's largest sports trade fair" didn't disappoint. Beyond the Swedish electric dirt bikes and Land Rover smartphones, the show had dozens of interesting innovations.