… Taken together, features such as Sleep Score, Fitbit’s upcoming paid service, and the new products it announced on Wednesday (including the $159.95 Fitbit Versa Lite) are at the heart of Fitbit’s goals: expanding its user base and tackling larger health issues. When it comes to the latter, Fitbit has already said it’s researching ways its products can be used to address conditions such as atrial fibrillation and sleep apnea. It also announced Fitbit Care in September, a program for employers and health-plan providers.
The success of these initiatives will be critical for Fitbit as Apple becomes a more formidable rival in the smartwatch and health-tracking space. Apple maintained its position as the No. 1 wearable-device maker worldwide in the fourth quarter of 2018, according to a report from the International Data Corp. Apple accounted for 27.4% of the global wearable-device market, while Fitbit accounted for 9.4%. Fitbit also placed behind Xiaomi and Huawei, which were responsible for 12.% and 9.6% of the market respectively.
… Rumor is the new Triathlon watch (not called forerunner 945 – new series). They switched back to the rectangular screen for battery and screen real estate purposes – also differentiates from Fenix line.
Current Opinion in Biomedical Engineering journal from
Connected wearable biosensors are a critical part of athletic performance analysis, injury and recovery time assessment, and hydration analytics, enabling elite athletes, trainers, and coaches to characterize the daily demands of sports. However, existing classes of wearable biosensors are constrained to a few body locations and tend to limit mobility due to their bulky size and weight. Recent advances in soft and stretchable skin-interfaced wearable sensors capable of real-time physiological monitoring and in situ sweat collection provide capabilities for real-time continuous motion, physiology, and biochemical analysis in an imperceptible mode from any location on the body. This review presents an overview of the latest developments in skin-interfaced wearable sensor technologies with an emphasis on soft materials and stretchable designs most suitable in sports. We conclude with a summary of unresolved challenges, opportunities, and future directions facing the field of sports science and analytics. [full text]
Journal of Orthopaedic & Sports Physical Therapy from
Since the running revolution of the 1970s, one of the major challenges has been the burden of running-related injuries (RRIs). Researchers, sports medicine practitioners, and strength and conditioning coaches are striving to develop an understanding of which factors may increase an individuals risk of developing RRIs, which strategies can be used to ensure optimal rehabilitation and recovery from an injury, and how to best optimize athletic performance. This Viewpoint explores these factors to demonstrate how recent advances in mobile technology may allow us to uncover novel insights related to the science and medicine of running.
GPS bike computers have revolutionised the way many of us navigate and record our rides but they have their downsides and pitfalls. Here are some of the issues we’ve experienced and heard about.
Nordic Semiconductor, Get Connected Blog, John Leonard from
… Direction finding is a major feature of Bluetooth 5.1, which brings the possibility of absolute positioning of products and things in three-dimensional space to the world of low-power wireless connectivity.
It is a very important addition to Bluetooth Low Energy’s capability arsenal. We believe it can have a similar impact for indoor situations as GPS did for outdoor positioning. Where GPS has fundamentally changed the world of traveling and tracking on the macro scale for cars, people and objects, Bluetooth direction finding can make a similar impact on the micro scale inside buildings and properties.
The flaws in Outdoor Tech’s CHIPS smart headphones were uncovered by Alan Monie of Pen Test Partners (PTP) after the winter sports enthusiast purchased one of their units.
After he noticed that he was able to pull up the user info of everyone called ‘Alan’ in the process of setting up a group for walkie talkie chats, Monie was encouraged to dig deeper.
He quickly discovered that because of an insecure direct object references (IDOR) vulnerabilities, a hacker could access all manner of sensitive content, without any authorization checks being made.
Real-time measurements of the total loss of sweat, the rate of sweating, the temperature of sweat, and the concentrations of electrolytes and metabolites in sweat can provide important insights into human physiology. Conventional methods use manual collection processes (e.g., absorbent pads) to determine sweat loss and lab-based instrumentation to analyze its chemical composition. Although such schemes can yield accurate data, they cannot be used outside of laboratories or clinics. Recently reported wearable electrochemical devices for sweat sensing bypass these limitations, but they typically involve on-board electronics, electrodes, and/or batteries for measurement, signal processing, and wireless transmission, without direct means for measuring sweat loss or capturing and storing small volumes of sweat. Alternative approaches exploit soft, skin-integrated microfluidic systems for collection and colorimetric chemical techniques for analysis. Here, we present the most advanced platforms of this type, in which optimized chemistries, microfluidic designs, and device layouts enable accurate assessments not only of total loss of sweat and sweat rate but also of quantitatively accurate values of the pH and temperature of sweat, and of the concentrations of chloride, glucose, and lactate across physiologically relevant ranges. Color calibration markings integrated into a graphics overlayer allow precise readout by digital image analysis, applicable in various lighting conditions. Field studies conducted on healthy volunteers demonstrate the full capabilities in measuring sweat loss/rate and analyzing multiple sweat biomarkers and temperature, with performance that quantitatively matches that of conventional lab-based measurement systems.
Many major advances in medicine, especially in neurology, have been sparked by recent advances in electronic systems that can acquire, process, and interact with biological substrates. These bioelectronic systems, which are increasingly used to understand dynamic living organisms and to treat human disease, require devices that can record body signals, process them, detect patterns, and deliver electrical or chemical stimulation to address problems.
Transistors, the devices that amplify or switch electronic signals on circuits, form the backbone of these systems. However, they must meet numerous criteria to operate efficiently and safely in biological environments such as the human body. To date, researchers have not been able to build transistors that have all the features needed for safe, reliable, and fast operation in these environments over extended periods of time.
A team led by Dion Khodagholy, assistant professor of electrical engineering at Columbia Engineering, and Jennifer N. Gelinas, Columbia University Medical Center, Department of Neurology, and the Institute for Genomic Medicine, has developed the first biocompatible ion-driven transistor that is fast enough to enable real-time signal sensing and stimulation of brain signals.
The international standards organization SAE International is beginning a project to produce guidelines for resilient GNSS receivers.
According to Bill Woodward, chair of the organization’s Positioning, Navigation, and Timing Committee, “The low power level of GNSS satellite signals at the Earth’s surface makes receivers very susceptible to interference that effects their performance. There is a need for a standard that provides guidelines for resilient GNSS receivers which are less susceptible to interference.”
Lower Extremity Review Magazine, Keith Loria and Janice T. Radak from
… “We have definitely left the ‘in the future’ stage,” said Blake D. Norquist , president and chief executive officer at Norquist Medical, PLLC, which introduced 3D-printed orthotics in 2014. “It’s pretty clear we’re still in the ‘innovators’ stage, but I believe we are at the brink of the ‘early adopters’ stage and that we will see a lot of foot experts stepping into 3D-print solutions in the next 2 years.”
“While 3D-printing technology has continued to grow in its popularity and utilization, we are only scratching the surface of what is possible,” said John Stimpson, president of Cryos Technologies, Inc. Cryos expects to be fully 3D in its partner clinics and labs by the end of 2019. Stimpson notes that Cryos only produces orthotics directly from its scanning technology system.
The key to success, according to Norquist and Stimpson, is the evolution to a completely digitized workflow that captures objective patient data and seamlessly transfers it to the manufacturing process. The simplified digital process appeals to clinicians and manufacturers, whereas individualized patient data allow for truly custom fit footwear.
Streamlined speed for cycling, reduced glare for water sports, or a throwback design for your next mountaineering adventure, the right sunglasses vary by adventure. In an ever-expanding effort to create sport-specific gear, sunglass design has grown as well, and these are the best ones for a variety of outdoor activities.
… Now, ahead of a huge year in the swimming world, Speedo has unveiled the Fastskin LZR Pure Intent and LZR Pure Valor, as well as the Pure Focus goggle, as Speedo looks to continue its proud record of being the brand worn most by Olympic gold medallists great just something about Fastskin continues to pioneer innovation and technology to help swimmers swim their fastest etc. each Fastskin suit has been about progress.
North Carolina State University, NC State News from
North Carolina State University researchers have developed a fiber that combines the elasticity of rubber with the strength of a metal, resulting in a tougher material that could be incorporated into soft robotics, packaging materials or next-generation textiles.
“A good way of explaining the material is to think of rubber bands and metal wires,” says Michael Dickey, corresponding author of a paper on the work and Alcoa Professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at NC State.
“A rubber band can stretch very far, but it doesn’t take much force to stretch it,” Dickey says. “A metal wire requires a lot of force to stretch it, but it can’t take much strain – it breaks before you can stretch it very far. Our fibers have the best of both worlds.”
Lisa Ryan, a 26-year-old New York City marketing manager and workout enthusiast, is frustrated. “I exercise every day, and no matter how frequently I wash my gym clothes, they never seem to be fully clean.”
Ryan isn’t alone. Almost everyone’s gym clothes — even after washing — stink.
Mary Johnson, a principal scientist for Procter & Gamble, says that to understand why our gym clothes smell, we first need to understand what causes odors in textiles. According to Johnson, 70 percent of laundry dirt is caused by body soils that are invisible to the eye — sweat, skin cells, salt and a waxy fat called sebum. If they aren’t removed with an effective detergent, these soils accumulate and settle in the fibers of our clothing. The most difficult of these to remove is sebum because, as Johnson explains, “it is very sticky and as it sets in the fibers it ends up attracting other odor-causing soils that then adhere to the fabrics.”
… As published in ACS Nano, the process developed by the team based at the National Graphene Institute has the potential produce tonnes of conductive graphene-based yarn, using existing textile machineries and without adding to production costs.
In addition to producing the yarn in large quantities, they are washable, flexible, inexpensive and biodegradable.
Such sensors could be integrated to either a self-powered RFID or low-powered Bluetooth to send data wirelessly to mobile device.
… Among the affluent families were young couples and packs of Salt Lake City friends navigating the runs for the first time. The reason: Deer Valley had suddenly become a bulk-buy product. In 2017 a new conglomerate (later dubbed Alterra Mountain Co.) bought 11 of America’s most popular ski resorts and teamed with dozens more mountain owners to honor a single-season lift ticket called the Ikon Pass. Compared with buying a string of daily lift tickets for as much as $200 a pop, the Ikon Pass (which ranges from $599 to $899) can pay for itself in as few as three days. Only one other product is in direct competition with Ikon: The Epic Pass from Vail Resorts Inc. admits skiers to its aggressively expanding chain of 20 destinations including the company’s namesake ski area in Colorado’s Rocky Mountains.
Together, Alterra’s and Vail’s passes can be swiped at 58 North American resorts, as well as a handful of resorts in Oceania and Europe. The two competing conglomerates are trying to turn occasional skiers into frequent skiers and frequent skiers into serial skiers who incidentally buy a lot of midmountain beers and slopeside hotel rooms. Deer Valley and resorts like it have become a sort of research and development lab forecasting possible futures for the long-struggling ski industry.
Here’s a summary of expert advice on how to be your own running coach from a self-coached world-class endurance runner Calum Neff who shares his best practices for motivation, preferred tools and recommended resources.
New research shows how the depth of sleep can impact our brain’s ability to efficiently wash away waste and toxic proteins. Because sleep often becomes increasingly lighter and more disrupted as we become older, the study reinforces and potentially explains the links between aging, sleep deprivation, and heightened risk for Alzheimer’s disease.
“Sleep is critical to the function of the brain’s waste removal system and this study shows that the deeper the sleep the better,” said Maiken Nedergaard, M.D., D.M.Sc., co-director of the Center for Translational Neuromedicine at the University of Rochester Medical Center (URMC) and lead author of the study. “These findings also add to the increasingly clear evidence that quality of sleep or sleep deprivation can predict the onset of Alzheimer’s and dementia.”
Thousands of athletes come through the Nike Sport Research Lab (NSRL) every year; many of them are professional. The first thing each does is take a digital survey that asks about their activity and sport, goals and motivation, product history, preferences and future needs. From there, the athlete goes through five physical baseline tests.
These tests are the first, critical step in developing strong relationships with athletes. Nike uses each test to consistently and thoroughly evaluate every athlete in order to get a better understanding of them. This technology also helps Nike build a huge global database that informs design and fine tunes fit for footwear to apparel.
Matthew Nurse, Vice President of the NSRL, breaks down the tests and explains how each plays a crucial role in Nike’s understanding of all athletes, and how the insights and results of these assessments help researchers and designers create new technologies for apparel and footwear.
For the first time in our history, Steel HR Sport can give you an accurate and precise physical fitness score—the result of a partnership between Withings and Firstbeat. What is it and how does it work? Read on to find out.
I am searching people who did a real vo2max test to see if their estimate is in fact correct. Garmin says it’s a maximum of 3 points off with a likelihood of 95%
To the day 150 years after pioneering scientist and mountaineer John Tyndall climbed Weisshorn in the Swiss Alps, Montana State University professor Michael Reidy climbed the mountain, too.
“Tyndall did it in 19 hours. We did it in 18:45,” he said. “It was stupid to do it in the first place, and I would never do it again.”
Reidy aimed to learn more about Tyndall and the way mountaineering advanced science.
“Without needing to do that science, you don’t get the sport of mountaineering and without mountaineering, you don’t get that type of science,” he said.
