Inspiration
We all play pickleball, but at different levels—from beginners learning the basics to more experienced players. One team member's play rating is 5.3 (elite amateur or semi-professional) while other members are newer to the game. One teammate was also one of the few engineers working on the Orion glasses at Meta so they understand wearables and its data well.
Our team's varying skills gap made us ask: how can technology help people improve individually while learning to play together?
For those of us moving somewhere new, hobbies are also a way to find friends and build community. But stepping onto a court with more experienced players can be intimidating. We built In Sync to help newcomers gain confidence, become better doubles partners, and make connections through play.
What it does
In Sync is a wearable AI coach for pickleball players and doubles teams. It combines motion, visual context, and on-court conversations to deliver live coaching.
Our focus is helping two players work together. By considering both the action and what partners communicate, In Sync aims to turn feedback into a shared understanding of what to improve next.
How we built it
We brought together Vexo bands, Meta glasses, Gemini models, and ElevenLabs Voice to connect on-court sensing with spoken coaching.
The Vexo bands provide motion data, Meta glasses contribute first-person visual context, Gemini models interpret the inputs, and ElevenLabs delivers voice feedback. Connecting these components let us explore coaching that fits into play without requiring players to stop and open an app.
Challenges we ran into
One of our biggest challenges was getting the Vexo bands and Meta glasses working together in a single coaching experience. In addition to connecting the devices, we also needed inputs that captured the speed and intensity of actual play.
Accomplishments that we're proud of
We brought multiple wearable devices and AI services together and used it on the court today.
Just as importantly, we played together, learned from one another, and made new friends. Building community through pickleball was our inspiration, and it became part of the building process itself.
What we learned
We learned more about pickleball, as well as improving as a player and as a team. We also learned that wearable AI is as much an integration challenge as a modeling challenge. Sensor configuration, device communication, and feedback delivery all affect whether a coaching experience is useful during play.
What's next for In Sync
Next, we want to continue making the coaching more reliable and specific to each player’s role in a doubles team.
We plan to test with more players across skill levels, refine how we combine motion, vision, and conversation, and measure whether partners apply the feedback in subsequent play. Our goal is to help people build both their skills and their confidence to step onto the court together.
Pickleball is only the beginning - we also want to expand to other sports in the future.
