A Look Into Development Of Wearables And Associated Wellness: Carlos Justiniano, VP Of Designing, Flywheel Sports
2,000 and six was an awe-inspiring year for Tre Kronor, the Swedish public ice hockey group. In an exhilarating triumph against Finland, they secured gold at the Colder time of year in the Olympics. That very year they outperformed (4-0) the Czech Republic to come out on top for the Big showdowns. Sweden turned into the primary country to hold the two titles around the same time, a differentiation they actually hold today.
Earlier that year and just under seven thousand miles away, Sports retail giant, Nike and then reemerging tech leader, Apple were secretly working on a revolutionary new piece of fitness tech called the Nike+iPod Sports Kit, a wireless device that connected with iPods and later iPhones.
The device, placed inside a Nike shoe, enabled runners to log and monitor their runs using their iPods, all while listening to their favorite tunes. Like so many other innovations, it was built on top of earlier advancements. The 1970s saw advancements in low-cost microprocessors and sensors. It was also the time when John Bergen led the team who developed the world’s first digital watch, the Pulsar, and when digital tracking performance on cardiovascular equipment, such as treadmills and ellipticals, became a reality.
Those machines originally appeared in gyms, but soon found their way into our homes. "Connected fitness is poised to leverage the next round of technological innovations and help to create a more fit human species." The 80s and 90s saw a string of new digital products, but it wasn’t until the early 2000s that a digital fitness-centric device started to emerge.
Over time, emerging fitness devices would decrease in size thanks to the commoditization of mobile phone components such as processors, chipsets, and sensors. In many ways, modern wearable tech has been a spin-off of the near-absolute ubiquity and market demand of mobile smartphones. That same year, Apple launched its first generation Apple Watch, which incorporated fitness features that paired well with iPhones. Soon Nike, Sony, Pebble, and Samsung entered the market with their own fitness-capable smartwatches.
Today, our smartwatches are nothing less than powerful wearable computers with human biometric sensors. A key driver in the emergence of fitness devices is the need for individuals to track their health and fitness goals. Individuals with preexisting medical conditions and individuals interested in improving and maintaining their health naturally gravitated to the use of external tools to support their goals.
Those tools range from food, diet, and medical components and extend to technological devices which measure and track activities. The availability of low-cost fitness tracking devices spawned a movement of self-tracking. Wearable tech can still be considered in its infancy but is actively being fueled by the Maker movement and funding sites such as Kickstarter.
The widespread availability of fitness trackers has also led to the emergence of an entire ecosystem of fitness apps. Apps like RunKeeper and Stravacombined connected and social fitness tracking. Many people use their fitness trackers in combination with an ever-growing collection of fitness information, training, and scenic videos freely available on YouTube.
This feeling of working out together has moved well beyond the gyms and into our homes via connected social fitness machines. These machines connect individuals via Internet connections to instructors and other studio members. The iconic example is Peloton, who pioneered connected social fitness featuring live spin classes where at-home connected riders could spin with and compete against other riders across the country.
The Mirror product is a particularly interesting connected fitness device. Mirror, like Peloton and Flywheel, offers Barre, offers strength, and performance, training classes. The connected fitness space is growing rapidly. To answer this, we need only consider that connected fitness devices and our smartphones and smartwatches already capture a great deal of data.
The next wave of fitness programs will use machine learning to analyze our workouts. It’s a case where data becomes information, and information powers AI-based personal trainers. In the near future, we’ll also have the option of working out in virtual reality with AI-based personal trainers and interacting and competing against others worldwide.
The device, placed inside a Nike shoe, enabled runners to log and monitor their runs using their iPods, all while listening to their favorite tunes. Like so many other innovations, it was built on top of earlier advancements. The 1970s saw advancements in low-cost microprocessors and sensors. It was also the time when John Bergen led the team who developed the world’s first digital watch, the Pulsar, and when digital tracking performance on cardiovascular equipment, such as treadmills and ellipticals, became a reality.
Over time, emerging fitness devices would decrease in size thanks to the commoditization of mobile phone components such as processors, chipsets, and sensors. In many ways, modern wearable tech has been a spin-off of the near-absolute ubiquity and market demand of mobile smartphones. That same year, Apple launched its first generation Apple Watch, which incorporated fitness features that paired well with iPhones. Soon Nike, Sony, Pebble, and Samsung entered the market with their own fitness-capable smartwatches.
Today, our smartwatches are nothing less than powerful wearable computers with human biometric sensors. A key driver in the emergence of fitness devices is the need for individuals to track their health and fitness goals. Individuals with preexisting medical conditions and individuals interested in improving and maintaining their health naturally gravitated to the use of external tools to support their goals.
Those tools range from food, diet, and medical components and extend to technological devices which measure and track activities. The availability of low-cost fitness tracking devices spawned a movement of self-tracking. Wearable tech can still be considered in its infancy but is actively being fueled by the Maker movement and funding sites such as Kickstarter.
This feeling of working out together has moved well beyond the gyms and into our homes via connected social fitness machines. These machines connect individuals via Internet connections to instructors and other studio members. The iconic example is Peloton, who pioneered connected social fitness featuring live spin classes where at-home connected riders could spin with and compete against other riders across the country.
The Mirror product is a particularly interesting connected fitness device. Mirror, like Peloton and Flywheel, offers Barre, offers strength, and performance, training classes. The connected fitness space is growing rapidly. To answer this, we need only consider that connected fitness devices and our smartphones and smartwatches already capture a great deal of data.
The next wave of fitness programs will use machine learning to analyze our workouts. It’s a case where data becomes information, and information powers AI-based personal trainers. In the near future, we’ll also have the option of working out in virtual reality with AI-based personal trainers and interacting and competing against others worldwide.
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