A different 'take' on the concept of excitement from Nissan, with volunteers equipped with state-of-the-art sensors during crucial UEFA Champions League matches, but also on the Spa circuit at 250km/h in a GT-R.
Ahead of the UEFA Champions League final next Saturday, Nissan, as the official global automotive sponsor of the competition, puts football into perspective by assessing whether the thrill of a football match is more exciting than being a passenger in the legendary GT-R supercar.
Working with sports science experts at Loughborough University, Nissan installed advanced technology wearable devices on participants to monitor and collect a range of data. These included heart rate, breathing rate and electro-dermal activity, so that the physiological level of effect that excitement had could be examined and ultimately determine which activity was more exciting.
The experiments took place during UEFA Champions League qualifying and were compared to the reactions of passengers in the passenger seat of the GT-R at the famous Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium, with professional drivers behind the wheel of the supercar.
Physiological |
Games |
GT-R |
Middle |
39% |
37% |
Middle |
91 |
100BPM |
Average |
124BPM |
136BPM |
Middle |
140% |
144% |
Average |
15 |
15 |
Average |
35 |
35 |
Commenting on the findings from the two sets of experiments, Dr Dale Esliger from Loughborough University, among others, said: "Before conducting the experiments, we would subjectively assess how exciting football or being a passenger in a supercar such as a Nissan GT-R is. The research conducted as part of the Nissan Excitement Index allowed us to use innovative sensor data , then understand the participants' physical reaction to these exciting moments and thus make recommendations for those elements that could be the most exciting."
