Queens ‘Smart’ baton with cutting-edge technology tours the Ngong Hills...

Earlier in the day the Queen’s Baton was at the Ngong Hills. Today’s leg of the relay was themed around the sustainability theme of the Commonwealth Games. Ngong Hills is an environment conservation area with a forest which promotes use of sustainable process in its conservation including Wind power generation, promotion of reuse, recycle, reduce and is one of key training facilities for Kenyan Athletes. As part of the leg, athletes in the relay planted trees in the forest.

But the baton itself is more than it first appears...

This year's baton is high-tech and is home to a camera, a heart-rate monitor, atmospheric sensors and LED lighting.

The baton has been created to capture data and stories from across the Commonwealth and is the result of a West Midlands collaboration fusing art, technology, science and engineering.

Inside the baton itself is a 360-degree camera to record and transmit stories from across the Commonwealth, and atmospheric sensors to analyse each country's environmental conditions.

A heart rate monitor will display the heartbeats of the carriers, and LED lights will change colour when two people hold it together.

"By incorporating meaningful technologies into the design, we can celebrate grassroots innovation happening right across the Commonwealth, and give a platform to those driving change within their communities."

The information collected from the sensors will be analysed by researchers at the University of Birmingham who will study air pollution in each Commonwealth country.

The Queen will place a message to the Commonwealth inside the baton on October 7 in London. It will then be carried to Cyprus and on to Malta. Other destinations among the 72 nations and territories include all 19 African Commonwealth countries, Pakistan, India, Australia, the Caribbean, Canada and the Falklands Islands, and the Seychelles on Christmas Eve and the Maldives on New Year’s Day.

The relay will end in July at the Birmingham 2022 opening ceremony when the baton is returned to Queen.