Jakob Fruchtmann

The fighting dyad of two athletes forms one mind-body-complex that is in an interdependent balance (O’Shea 2019) – which both strive to overcome: As anticipation is an important predictor of success, fighters need to have a strong understanding of their opponents, being able to predict their opponents’ actions at the earliest possible moment, understanding their strategy as well as grasping what mental and emotional state they are in. During a bout, it is of the utmost importance for the fighters themselves to remain in a focused, mentally and emotionally balanced state, while experiencing extreme physical and psychological pressure (Gray 2011, 2022). Conversely, the athletes’ task is to disbalance the mental and emotional state of their opponent by exerting physical impact on them. This is why, among other, strategies of down-regulation are considered essential (e.g. Mckeown 2021).

The project BrainBattle seeks to make these processes of physical and mental interaction visible and measurable. We combine POV cameras and wireless EEG technology to collect and synchronize live movement and brain data of boxers fighting. The data reveal how the athletes interaction relates to their brain activities and states. The data will be processed and an AI will be trained to correctly assess brain states that are more – or less – conducive to success in real time. We will provide live feedback that allows to train towards a more efficient state of mind not only before performances, but during the actual fighting, too – thus creating new feedback-loops and layers of communication in training (Winkelman 2020).