For a month starting on Global Running Day, June 2, Asics will be conducting a worldwide study to track the effects of sport on the “collective mood of cities, nations and the world.” The Japanese brand is using an interface called the “Mind Uplifter” – available through the Race Roster and Runkeeper apps – to record facial scans, electroencephalograms and customer-reported data on ten “emotional and cognitive metrics” such as confidence, positivity, calm and focus. With the results it is generating a dynamic, interactive “World Uplift Map.” “By taking part in any number of our different events and activities running across the year,” says Asics’ president and COO, Yasuhito Hirota, customers can “help us further understand the uplifting effect of sport.” A preliminary study – developed by EMOTIV, a bioinformatics company in San Francisco, and Dr. Brendon Stubbs, who studies exercise and mental health at King’s College in London – found immediate post-exercise increases in confidence (14.4%), energy (9.7%) and relaxation (13.3%) in a sample of 42 athletes of varied accomplishment. More information is available at: asics.com/uplift

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