Partner's Apple Watch referee app lets NHL stripes keep focus
Presidio designed the NHL Watch Comms App to sync with a hockey arena's game and penalty clocks and use haptic notifications to help officials keep their eyes on the game.
A custom Apple Watch app designed for National Hockey League referees by an NHL channel partner involved some intricate programming and an iterative design process that simplified the use of the technology during games.
Presidio, a technology services and software provider based in New York, created the NHL Watch Comms App. The app provides on-ice officials -- including the linesmen who call offsides and icing infractions -- with what Presidio termed situational communications. That is, Apple Watches running the app sync with the game and penalty clocks and vibrate as the end of a period or penalty approaches.
"When the NHL talked to us, they were looking for a way to help officials in those cases where their eyes need to be in two places at once," said Gail Backal, practice lead for digital strategy at Presidio.
For example, on-ice officials need to be aware of the game clock while also watching the action, Backal noted. Similarly, officials need to keep tabs on the penalty clock and gameplay. In the latter case, she added, the Apple Watch referee app uses the phone's haptic notifications to help officials make sure a player doesn't exit the penalty box early -- and stay out of the way when the door to the box opens and players rush out onto the ice.
After the app was tested in previous NHL seasons, most referees and linesmen are using it in the current one: It now has a 92.5% adoption rate, according to Presidio. Earlier this month, the NHL expanded its use of the app from indoor arenas to an outdoor game at Ohio Stadium in Columbus.
For channel partners, smartwatch apps are a niche within the mobile app market. Smartwatch apps for referees are a niche within a niche: A quick check of the inventory in Apple's App Store found about a half-dozen watch apps for game officials.
Presidio's NHL Watch Comms App periodically polls a scoreboard's data feed.
Polling data streams
A key challenge in developing the app was figuring out how to keep the Apple Watches in lockstep with the arena clock. The goal: prevent any human-discernible difference between the two.
When the NHL talked to us, they were looking for a way to help officials in those cases where their eyes need to be in two places at once.
Gail BackalPractice lead for digital strategy, Presidio
"That did take some engineering to make sure it was possible," Backal said.
The OASIS data management platform used by the NHL produces a cloud data stream, which includes scoreboard and timekeeping data. Short for Organization of Asynchronous Sports Information Subsystems, OASIS was developed by sports technology vendor SMT. The Apple Watch app polls the OASIS scoreboard feed, requesting data from the cloud stream at variable intervals. The interval between polls is determined in real time based on game context, such as timeouts, Backal said. Factors such as the responsiveness of cloud services also influence the polling frequency. A delay in responding to a data request, for instance, will trigger another polling request, she noted.
Presidio's development team optimized its code for the real-time use case, hitting the right polling cadence to keep up with the scoreboard clocks, Backal said. In doing so, the team gained experience with programming techniques that the company can apply on future projects, she added.
Connectivity was another design issue. Presidio evaluated the Wi-Fi and cellular networks available in arenas. The company determined that cellular was more reliable and provided better coverage, Backal said. The quality of over-the-ice coverage was of particular concern since an arena's primary aim is to provide network connectivity over the seats and spectators.
Apple Watch can take a hit
The NHL selected Apple Watch as its designated smartwatch before the launch of the NHL Watch Comms App project. As a result, the Presidio team did not investigate any other device options.
The smartwatch, however, provides features that lend themselves to the rigors of hockey officiating. Backal cited the Apple Watch's durability, noting that it was tested to withstand falls on the ice and battering against the boards. Other pluses included its haptic capabilities, ease of cellular connectivity, compute power and battery reliability, she said.
Keeping haptics in check
The app relies on haptic cues, which serve as the main notification officials receive on their Apple Watches. Presidio brainstormed what kind of notifications it could offer during a game as it built the prototype app. The team completed the prototype in seven weeks and tested it with officials in scrimmage-like settings. The officials' assessment: The haptic cues were a bit overwhelming.
"They were thinking we had too many," Backal said. "They found it distracting."
Officials pointed to the prototype's puck-drop and goal notifications, among others, as unnecessary. The notifications that officials found most valuable are all about time. The end-of-period and end-of-penalty haptics provide one haptic cue at the 10-second mark and then one vibration each for the last three seconds of the countdown.
The officials' feedback underscored the importance of working with users -- early and often -- during application design, Backal noted.
"We don't think like officials," she said. "We could have deviated [from design best practices] and maybe built much more into this than they would have found useful."
Meeting real-time needs
While Apple got the nod for the NHL's real-time communications application, vendors of simpler watches are looking to catch up with real-time operating system (RTOS) technology.
Cynthia Chen, a research manager at technology market analyst firm Canalys, said basic watches are exploring RTOS to bridge the gap with advanced smartwatches and meet the needs of a broader market at a more affordable price. Canalys is part of Informa TechTarget's Omdia research and advisory services unit.
Apple, meanwhile, topped the list of wearable band vendors with a 20% share of units shipped in the fourth quarter of 2024, according to Canalys. The wearable band segment includes everything from basic health bands to smartwatches.
John Moore is a writer for Informa TechTarget covering the CIO role, economic trends and the IT services industry.
