About Us
Solving Sport's
Emotional Blindspot.
EchoDepth Sport brings emotional intelligence to elite sport. We give coaches, welfare officers, and performance teams the data they need to understand how players truly feel — not how they say they feel.
Our Mission
Elite sport has perfected physical measurement. GPS tracks every metre. Heart rate monitors capture every beat. Sleep trackers log every hour of recovery. But when a player loses confidence mid-match, when anxiety spikes before a crucial moment, when emotional fatigue clouds decision-making — performance teams are blind.
We exist to close that gap. EchoDepth Sport provides real-time emotional intelligence that works alongside your existing physical data, giving you the complete picture of player state that you've always needed but never had access to.
Our platform is built on peer-reviewed science, designed for elite environments, and governed by player-first principles. Every feature we build asks one question: does this help protect and develop the people at the centre of the sport?
Founded
2023
Cardiff, Wales
Built by
Cavefish Ltd
Company No. 15127122
Data Protection
ICO Registered
Registration: ZB915623
Methodology
FACS + VAD
Peer-reviewed scientific foundation
The Problem We Solve
Modern sport has an emotional blindspot. Clubs invest millions in physical performance data but have no objective insight into the mental and emotional state of their players. The consequences are significant:
Self-reporting fails
Players mask struggles. Surveys are gamed. You only find out there's a problem when it's too late.
Coaches guess
Half-time talks are based on intuition, not data. Substitution decisions lack emotional context.
Welfare gaps emerge
Distress goes undetected. Duty of care obligations are met reactively, not proactively.
Potential is lost
Academy players with talent but emotional struggles slip through. Development stalls.
EchoDepth Sport changes this. We provide objective, continuous, passive emotional intelligence that reveals what players cannot or will not self-report — in real time, without surveys, and with full GDPR compliance.
Scientific Foundation
EchoDepth Sport is built on decades of peer-reviewed research, not proprietary black boxes. Our methodology is transparent, auditable, and grounded in established science.
FACS
Facial Action Coding System
The world's most widely used and peer-reviewed method for measuring facial movement. Developed by Paul Ekman and Wallace Friesen in 1978, FACS defines 46 Action Units — the individual muscle movements that compose every human facial expression. EchoDepth tracks 44 of these in real time.
VAD
Valence, Arousal, Dominance
The three-dimensional model that converts Action Unit patterns into interpretable emotional state. Valence measures positive vs negative emotion. Arousal measures activation level. Dominance measures sense of control. Together, they provide a complete picture of emotional state.
44
Action Units Tracked
EchoDepth Sport tracks 44 of the 46 FACS-defined Action Units, providing comprehensive coverage of facial muscle movement. Each AU is compared against individual player baselines, ensuring alerts reflect genuine change rather than natural variation.
Our Values
Every decision we make is guided by these principles. They shape how we build our technology, how we work with clubs, and how we handle player data.
Player-First Governance
Players are not data sources — they are the people our technology exists to protect and support. Every feature we build, every data point we capture, every alert we generate must serve the player's wellbeing first. Access controls, consent mechanisms, and data ownership reflect this priority.
GDPR Compliance
We are ICO registered (ZB915623) and fully GDPR compliant. Player emotional data is biometric data — we treat it with the care and protection that demands. UK data residency, encryption at rest and in transit, and strict access controls are non-negotiable.
Objective Data
We provide facts, not feelings. Our platform delivers objective emotional intelligence based on measurable facial muscle movement and peer-reviewed modelling. No interpretation bias. No survey manipulation. Just data that coaches and welfare teams can trust.
Transparent Science
Our methodology is built on FACS — an open, peer-reviewed, 40-year-old scientific framework. Unlike proprietary black-box emotion detection, our outputs are auditable and explainable. When we flag an alert, you can trace exactly why.
Elite Standards
We build for the demands of professional sport. Sub-200ms inference latency. 99.9% uptime targets. Seamless integration with existing performance platforms. Our technology must meet the standards that elite environments require.
Continuous Improvement
Sport evolves. Our platform evolves with it. We work closely with clubs to understand emerging needs, refine our models, and expand our capabilities. Every deployment teaches us something new.
Legal Entity
Cavefish Ltd
Registered in England & Wales
Company Number
15127122
Companies House registered
Location
Cardiff, Wales
United Kingdom
ICO Registration
ZB915623
Data Protection registered
Ready to Close the
Emotional Blindspot?
Book a 30-minute demo tailored to your sport and role. See real data. Ask hard questions. No commitment.
Get in Touch