Premier League champions Manchester City are using a ‘connected scarf’ to track the emotions, physiology and movement of supporters when they are watching a match, giving the club a better understanding of fan behaviour.

The scarf was conceptualised with agency Octagon alongside the club’s technology partner Cisco, and uses an ‘EmotiBit’ bio sensor discreetly located on the neck to capture four main streams of anonymised data.

A photoplethysmography (PPG) sensor tracks heart rate, respiration, oxygen saturation and hydration levels, while an accelerometer measures movement and activity.

An electrodermal activity (EDA) sensor, the same technology used for lie detection, assess nervous system responses driven by cognitive and emotional arousal, while a temperature sensor is used to measure emotional reactions during a match.

“Being a true passionate fan is physiological, it has nothing to do with how many games you attend or where you are in the world. It’s what unites us as a collective,” said Chintan Patel, chief technology officer for Cisco UK and Ireland. “Now we’ve got the data to prove it.”

When an individual’s four streams of data are combined and then aggregated with those of thousands of supporters, it’s possible to see how a collective crowd responds to events such as goals, tackles or refereeing decisions.

Naturally these data points could be extracted using more conventional wearable technology, but the use of a scarf is symbolic given its traditional ties to soccer. The technology was trialled during the concluding weeks of Manchester City’s championship-winning season last year and it is hoped that the findings will allow the club to be more inclusive and develop new, more personalised experiences for supporters in the future.

“At Manchester City, we continue to explore the latest technologies to deliver high quality fan experiences and bring them closer to the club,” said Nuria Tarré, chief marketing and fan experience officer at City Football Group (CFG), parent of Manchester City.

“A scarf is an iconic item that football fans across the globe own and wear to show their passion and support and this latest activity with Cisco is an innovative, new way to bring fans together and connect with them in a new and exciting way.

Cisco first partnered with Manchester City back in 2013 as part of a project to upgrade networking equipment at the Etihad Stadium and the wider campus which is home to the club’s training facilities, academy, and women’s team. The relationship has since been expanded to cover more areas of technology and CFG more broadly.