3 min readUpdated: Apr 24, 2026 07:34 PM IST
In her iconic yellow outfit from Rio, PV Sindhu was leading India’s charge at the Uber Cup. But it was a blue-grey stick-on dot next to her eye that caught the attention as Sindhu won her opener 21-13, 18-21, 21-17 on Friday.
A wearable technology tracker, it’s called the ‘Temple,’ and Sindhu has been using it in training for the past few weeks and strapped it on in a match for the first time on Friday as she battled Line Christophersen at Horsens, Denmark.
Where an eye-liner or mascara would be was the ‘Temple’, a device not unlike the ‘Whoop’ or ‘Catapult’, but specifically claiming to track blood flow to the brain in real time. While still a Beta version, Sindhu has been testing the wearable that gauges neurological metrics, tracking cognition and ageing. It is supposed to track circulation through the brain, but very little is known of its exact utility in the performance monitoring of athletes.
Sindhu, who continues to compete at the highest level, has also simultaneously begun her journey as an entrepreneur, and the testing could be more than just the curiosity of an elite athlete.
The device, built by Zomato founder Deepinder Goyal’s team, has been in testing, and Sindhu’s feedback is routinely sought in its development. Her partner in business, and husband, Venkata Datta Sai, said it was one technology, Sindhu was pretty excited about. “The signal on the Temple is a lot cleaner, and it’s very accurate in tracking the more relevant stuff,” he said, putting it at 7-8%, compared to other devices in use currently.
It’s an inch long, no Bluetooth, stays charged for up to 3-4 hours. You would think it’s clunky, but “you can completely forget it’s on your head,” he added. It collects data on heart rate and other metrics, but what’s special is the cognitive load. “There’s physical load and cognitive load on the body. Cognitive looks at how hard the brain is working. So even when she’s sleeping and lots of thoughts running are through the mind, we can monitor that,” he says. Most crucially, Datta says, the data doesn’t overwhelm, in Sindhu’s case.
The device, not on sale still, remains in its testing phase.
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In the match, playing Christophersen, Sindhu was sharp, claiming the opening game, fighting back in the second in vain, and then trailing 6-8, 12-15 before she upped her ante and aggression to beat back the 26-year-old Dane ranked No 21. Sindhu would give India the 1-0 lead with a down-the-line smash on the right flank and then body smashes on her opponent.
© The Indian Express Pvt Ltd
