Technology is increasingly being used to not only see what players score but also analyse the way they think, train and compete. A recent partnership between CircleChess, one of India’s top chess training institutes, and NeuroStellar, makers of Orbit, a smart headband that turns 10-15 minute sessions into instant cognitive reports, offers a striking example – the chessboard becomes not only a measure of tactical skill, but also a setting in which cognitive performance can be studied.
The collaboration, presented through NeuroStellar and CircleChess’s ‘Battle of Brains’ initiative, combines competitive chess with wearable neurotechnology. Orbit is designed to capture brain-related signals and translate them into data that can potentially offer insights into focus, cognitive endurance and performance. The concept reflects a wider shift in gaming technology – instead of simply recording who won, devices can increasingly examine how people perform while they play.
For board games, AI has already become a powerful aid, with smart chess boards able to recognise moves, provide analysis, connect players remotely and offer computer opponents that adjust to different levels of ability. AI coaching systems can also identify recurring mistakes and suggest areas for improvement, providing a play session akin to a personalised training session.
With the integration of Orbit into chess, other board games could also potentially combine data on moves, playing patterns and player behaviour to understand when concentration is declining or when a player is taking unusual risks. Such systems could help players review not just what happened on the board, but why their decision-making changed during a match.
Sports are developing along a similar path, with wearable sensors collecting information about movement, heart rate, workload and recovery. AI can process these large datasets far more quickly than a human coach, helping identify patterns associated with fatigue, training load or performance. Research into AI-powered wearables has increasingly focused on providing actionable information rather than simply collecting statistics.
Leading examples in the area include the Whoop 4.0, which allows athletes wearing this strap to continuously track heart rate variability, sleep quality, and respiratory rates, feeding data into an AI algorithm that calculates daily recovery and strain scores. Similarly, the Catapult One Vests, used by professional footballers and soccer players, are GPS-enabled smart vests to measure total distance, sprint speed, and player load, allowing AI platforms to optimise training and prevent injuries, among others.
The appeal is emerging strongly in high-performance sports. For example, a runner, footballer or tennis player may be able to use this data to understand how physical strain affects concentration, agility, and stamina. Coaches, meanwhile, can use aggregated information to tailor training rather than relying only on observation or individually collected performance statistics.
At the same time, it has been argued that more data does not automatically mean better performance. Players may become overwhelmed by metrics, while athletes and coaches must consider accuracy, privacy and how sensitive physiological or cognitive information is stored and used. Recent discussion around AI wearables has also highlighted the difficulty of turning huge quantities of personal data into genuinely useful advice. For board game players, the challenge will be preserving the human element. The future of technology in play may not be about putting AI between humans and their games, but about creating tools that reveal more about how humans think, train and perform. From a chessboard to a sports field, the emerging message is clear: the next generation of smart play could measure not only the score, but the mind and body behind it.