Training

​Italian aerospace company Leonardo announces that its Aermacchi M-345 High Efficiency Trainer (HET) has completed its maiden flight.According to the company, the 30 minute flight went off without incident.

​Horror games are often scarier in VR, but now it can help people face a different type of fear: public speaking. Picturing the audience in their underwear doesn’t help much, so the company’s Gear VR app, Speech Center VR, helps people feel more confident in front of a crowd.

A few years ago, Korg released a nifty practice tool called the TM-50 that combined tuner and metronome in one unit, allowing musicians to keep time and stay in tune. Now the company has added the ability to analyze and improve tone and technique with the release of the TM-50TR.

​If you're a competitive runner, then training on your own isn't always enough – you need someone else to race against. That said, a fast enough runner might not always be available. What do you do then? Well, if you're one of a lucky few, you may soon be able to use your Puma BeatBot robot.​

​There are already plenty of music players that work underwater, along with watches that count swimmers' laps and strokes. The SwimBot can do those things too, but it also does a lot more.

Imagine having a coach in your soccer ball. That's essentially what InsideCoach says it has done, by creating a smart soccer ball that can monitor a player's skills, track progress, provide tips on how to improve, and make practice more interesting.

Shift is a smartwatch strap designed for those who wear their device while training. It moves your smartwatch down your hand, orientating it for a better viewing angle while on the move.

Few of us have access to a professional coach to help hone our basketball skills, but sports technology company Onyx Motion hopes now you can at least get a decent proxy with upcoming smartwatch app Swish. It analyzes your shots and helps you improve them with personalized tips and detailed metrics.

Riding a mountain bike indoors on rollers or trainers may help riders to keep fit, but it's still far less fun or interesting than riding outdoors on actual trails. Norwegian startup Activetainment hopes to close that gap a little, however, with its interactive ebove B/01 bike trainer.

Billed as being the world's first wearable lactate threshold sensor, the BSXinsight is made to let athletes know how close they're getting to the edge, so they can approach it but not go over.

BMW has invested some US$75.5 million building the ultimate test drive center in Incheon, near Seoul, South Korea. Customers can stretch the legs of BMW's range of performance cars and motorcycles on a 2.6-kilometer (1.6 mile) closed circuit racetrack, an off road course and a skidpan.

Tracking shooting success on the basketball court can provide some valuable insights. Looking to extend the benefits of these analytics beyond the professional arena is Wilson, who has announced its Smart Basketball designed to allow tracking of training performance.