Tech Talk: Israeli Olympians eat healthier

Day Two uses athletes' fecal samples to help design their ideal training diets.

Green salad with arugula and berries (photo credit: INGIMAGE)
Green salad with arugula and berries
(photo credit: INGIMAGE)
 The Israel Olympic Committee is cooperating with Day Two, a start-up based in Adanim, near Hod Hasharon, that was founded by Marius Nacht and the Weizmann Institute of Science. Day Two created a mobile app that helps users balance glucose levels in their body.
The Israel Olympic Team decided to adapt Day Two to offer its athletes personal nutrition recommendations and avoid excess sugar levels, which is critical for professional athletes. In addition, they hope that Day Two would help them raise their energy levels during training.
The app works by checking the intestinal bacteria of each user. The athletes use home kits provided by Day Two to provide fecal samples, which are collected by courier and brought to the company’s laboratory.
Then, users can check the results on their mobile devices, and receive a list of rated food types that are special to each user’s unique bacterial population. The app also warns against foods that should be avoided.
According to Day Two co-founder and CEO Lihi Segal, “The Weizmann Institute study proved that identical foods can lead to divergent sugar levels in different people. For example, apples are generally considered to be a healthy food, but in some people eating an apple can lead to an extremely high rise in sugar levels if that person does not respond well to apples. So, when it comes to athletes, eating foods that are expected to lead to a rise in sugar levels during training could actually lead to a decrease in energy levels. With the help of our technology, we can predict and thereby avoid these extreme changes in sugar levels, and thereby improve athletes’ energy levels, concentration and alertness.”
“Athletes’ ability to reach their full potential depends on their health and their level of physical activity,” says Molly Epstein, a physiologist and the Israel Olympic Committee’s scientific director. “This new app offers our athletes the chance to develop an eating plan that is perfectly suited to their individual needs. Just as each athlete responds in her or his own way to different types of training, so do they each have their own reaction to different types of food.
This information will help us improve the level of performance of our athletes in training and in competitions.”
Day Two was founded in 2015 by Marius Nacht, CEO Lihi Segal and chairman Yuval Ofek. The research at Weizmann was carried out by Prof. Eran Segal and Prof. Eran Elinav. Day Two has raised $17 million from Johnson & Johnson, the Mayo Clinic, and the French venture capital firm Seventure Partners.
hoopo In an effort to radically improve precision for low-power Internet of Things tracking, hoopo has announced the launch of the company and its innovative, accurate geolocation solution for low-power wide area (LPWA) networks. The company said it has received $1.5 million in funding to further grow its business from a group of investors, including the initial investors in Mobileye; noted Israeli investor Zohar Gilon; and Ben Marcus, CEO of AirMap.
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The need to understand and quantify asset location is quickly becoming a requirement for the enterprise and industrial IoT.
However, today’s low-power geolocation isn’t precise enough to deliver on the full promise of the IoT. hoopo’s geolocation solution enables companies to locate their valuable assets, without the significant cost or battery consumption that can be associated with GPS. hoopo’s IoT solutions help companies precisely track specific assets in areas such as ports, vehicle dealer yards, parking lots, cattle ranches and other assetdense areas.
LPWA networks are becoming the driving force behind Smart City and other IoT applications because of their low-cost, low-power consumption, and high-coverage capabilities in rural and urban environments.
The long battery life of LPWA devices allows businesses to deploy a maintenance-free device in the field for several years.
“hoopo is addressing a real business need of companies around the world: cost-effective, yet precise, tracking of their valuable assets with longevity of battery life up to 10 years in the field,” said Ittay Hayut, the firm’s CEO. “LPWA checks off all of the boxes companies need in terms of cost and coverage, and hoopo’s solutions work alongside these LPWA networks to help businesses keep their assets safe, anytime and anywhere.”
hoopo’s solutions are based on a patent- pending triangulation method that uses LPWA data transmissions to generate a precise location. The solutions suite includes low-cost LPWA gateways and devices, as well as a platform for management and real-time notifications. Companies can receive on-demand geolocation, establish geofences, receive movement alerts, and more, ensuring the protection of valuable assets.
“hoopo’s geolocation technology reveals new business verticals that were limited or impossible when using existing technologies because of their high-cost and significant power consumption,” said Menashe Terem, CEO at Tri-logical, a leading provider of tracking and management solutions.
“Early applications such as asset tracking are just the beginning of what advances in geolocation will enable,” said Dr. Eli Fogel, former chief technology officer at Intel’s cellular communication division and an investor at hoopo. “Just as the advent of GPS launched a wealth of applications that no one ever thought of before, such as location-based advertising, there are future applications that this next generation of geolocation technology will enable.
We’re excited to see what new applications emerge as customers embrace these new precision location capabilities.”
hoopo is redefining geolocation technology, delivering high-accuracy yet low-power location capabilities to the Internet of Things. Based in Ra’anana, hoopo is working with companies worldwide to enable new applications that require more advanced geolocation technologies. hoopo is designed for LPWA networks and sensors, delivering high-accuracy geolocation, combined with long battery life, and the backing of a rich partner ecosystem.
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Translated by Hannah Hochner.