Landeskog's Skates Talk To An AI. It Spots Injuries Before They Happen. Clever Soles.

NHL player Gabriel Landeskog wears small sensors in his skate insoles during practices and games, and in his sneakers during training, to monitor movement patterns. The technology comes from Plantiga, a Vancouver-based human analytics company founded by Quin Sandler and his late father Norman McKay. Their system is used across the NBA, NFL, WNBA, MLB, and NHL. Their stated goal is detecting "the smoke before the fire." Which, if you think about it, is the entire point of preventive medicine.

This illustrates the principle of leading indicators in predictive health. The mechanism is continuous biomechanical monitoring: rather than waiting for an injury to announce itself through pain, the system analyzes gait asymmetries and load distribution in real time. Prevention becomes a data problem rather than a guessing game. Your body was always generating this information. You simply lacked the instruments to read it.

Plantiga, founded by Quin Sandler and Norman McKay in Vancouver, provides wearable in-shoe sensors used by athletes in the NBA, NFL, WNBA, MLB, and NHL. Landeskog connected with the company through strength and conditioning coach Marcin Goszczynski.