Several companies will now be using the IBM’s Watson cognitive system to enhance their applications. Under Armour, Softbank Robotics’ Pepper and others have entered a strategic partnership with IBM for access to IBM Watson’s machine learning algorithms and AI. Watson will be used by these companies to enhance the intelligence and personalization of their applications and other services.

This marks the latest move in the expansion of IBM’s Watson, following the launch of a Cognitive Business Solutions facility and a distinct IoT hub in Germany earlier in the year. IBM CEO Ginny Rometty revealed that the company has undertaken nearly 30 acquisitions for enhancing its proficiency and database.

Watson will be used to improve the fitness and health application of the sportswear maker Under Armour. The company’s new version of its Record application will now be equipped with different AI aspects. The first feature will be ‘just like me’ that will provide comparison between the user and other anonymous individuals to give a better understanding of the user’s performance, along with giving recommendations.

In the later stage, a personalized trainer, known as the Cognitive Coaching System, will also be included in the application. This will enable Record to better understand the user through activities, sleep pattern and nutrition data. Subsequently, it will give recommendations for enhancing performance. IBM and Under Armour also aim to develop applications to assist athletes in improving their performance and training. The applications will help athletes to gain access to broader data collection, which IBM is currently gathering.

IBM and Japan’s Softbank will work in co-operation to develop the latter’s robot called Pepper. The robot, which will now be powered by Watson, will gather broader data collection through images and text. The aim is to equip the robots with the feature to have a human-like insight into the world, using their senses, learning and experience.