… “Garmin is benefiting from scale and diversification after persistent reinvestments in new growth categories,” Morgan Stanley analyst Erik Woodring noted after the results came out. Strong spending on new gear by airplane owners is one driver, he wrote. “More product introductions in outdoor and fitness give us confidence that the company will continue to diversify its growth opportunities,” he added.
… “We can’t be a PT that’s putting their hands on your body and watching you move, but we can replicate the types of measurements that those motion capture spaces are getting,” says [Ivonna] Dumanyan.
Similar to the way movies like Avatar get made, Fathom AI uses motion capture data inputs to analyze human movement for injury prevention. They worked with UNC and Duke to use their motion capture laboratories with high-speed cameras and force plates.
The technology grabs the athlete’s motion data from three quarter-sized sensors — two for your ankles and one for the small of your back — that adhere to your skin like a Band-Aid.
We got an exclusive first look at Gatorade’s newest invention—and it isn’t fuel. It’s a sweat-collecting patch worn on the forearm during a training session. When you’re done, you scan it with your phone so a special Gatorade app can tell you your sweat rate and sodium concentration. The app will then tell you what you need to take in now to recover, what you should use on a workout of similar intensity and weather conditions—for one or three-hour sessions—and what you should do nutritionally to prep for your next bike or run. Each sweat patch is single-use. [video, 2:28]
A University of Virginia student-athlete has been nursing a strained hamstring and is anxious to return to game action. She seems to be moving well in practice. Confidence is high. Imaging results look good.
But how does anybody – the doctors, the athletic trainers, the coaches – truly know if she is physically ready?
Jay Hertel believes the answer is at our fingertips.
For the last couple of years, the Joe Gieck Professor of Sports Medicine in UVA’s Curry School of Education and Human Development and two kinesiology Ph.D. students, Alexandra DeJong and Natalie Kupperman, have been examining data from sensors worn by Cavalier student-athletes in basketball, volleyball and cross country.
CU Boulder researchers are working to apply machine learning to psychiatry, with a speech-based mobile app that can categorize a patient’s mental health status as well as or better than a human can.
“We are not in any way trying to replace clinicians,” says Peter Foltz, a research professor at the Institute of Cognitive Science and co-author of a new paper in Schizophrenia Bulletin that lays out the promise and potential pitfalls of AI in psychiatry. “But we do believe we can create tools that will allow them to better monitor their patients.”
Fitbit today announced Fitbit OS 4.1. The new version adds features to the Ionic, Versa, and Versa Lite. The Fitbit Versa 2 receives a better always-on display mode, expanded Alexa capabilities, and a new advanced heart rate algorithm. Fitbit OS 4.1 will begin rolling out to Fitbit smartwatch users the first week of December.
See how this first-of-its-kind PacePro™ feature on select Garmin smartwatches can help keep your pacing strategy on track, providing grade-adjusted guidance as you run a course. [video, 2:08]
Wearable, smart technologies are transforming the ability to monitor and improve health, but a decidedly low-tech commodity — the humble toilet — may have potential to outperform them all.
That’s the conclusion of a team of metabolism scientists at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the Morgridge Institute for Research, who are working to put the tremendous range of metabolic health information contained in urine to work for personalized medicine.
Urine contains a virtual liquid history of an individual’s nutritional habits, exercise, medication use, sleep patterns and other lifestyle choices. Urine also contains metabolic links to more than 600 human conditions, including some of the major killers such as cancer, diabetes and kidney disease.
The team has two essential questions. First, can frequent monitoring and testing of urine samples glean useful real-time information about an individual’s health? And second, can a technology platform be adapted to toilets that can make the collection process simple, accurate and affordable?
PragmatIC has developed a unique, patented semiconductor device platform that provides the opportunity to invent entirely new applications for electronics: as well as being ultra-low cost, it is also ultra-thin and flexible, and can be easily combined with other thin film electronic components to create novel solutions. Our FlexIC Foundry now allows third parties to access this technology to design and manufacture their own custom flexible integrated circuits (FlexICs).
PragmatIC created the FlexIC Foundry initially to accelerate the development and launch of its ConnectIC® family of RFID FlexICs earlier this year. ConnectICs are application-specific standard products that offer the ideal solution to be able to add connectivity and interactivity into trillions of everyday objects, with the potential to increase the addressable RFID market by an order of magnitude or more.
Rutgers engineers have embedded high performance electrical circuits inside 3D-printed plastics, which could lead to smaller and versatile drones and better-performing small satellites, biomedical implants and smart structures.
They used pulses of high-energy light to fuse tiny silver wires, resulting in circuits that conduct 10 times more electricity than the state of the art, according to a study in the journal Additive Manufacturing. By increasing conductivity10-fold, the engineers can reduce energy use, extend the life of devices and increase their performance.
“Our innovation shows considerable promise for developing an integrated unit – using 3D printing and intense pulses of light to fuse silver nanoparticles – for electronics,” said senior author Rajiv Malhotra.
WaveCel today announced the addition of Scott Boatman to the executive team in order to support their mission of “Chasing Safest.” Boatman will enable the inventor and manufacturer of concussion-preventing helmet technologies to establish new industry partnerships, maintain sustainable growth and bring helmets into the 21st century.
“The addition of Scott to the WaveCel team enables us to further capitalize on our proven approach to engineered head protection and bring this breakthrough to more people worldwide,” said Dr. Michael Bottlang, WaveCel Co-Owner. In September of this year, WaveCel expanded their U.S.-based manufacturing operations into a 46,000 square foot facility in Wilsonville, Oregon to meet growth projections.
Eliud Kipchoge stunned the world in October when he ran a marathon in less than two hours, blazing through the streets of Vienna at a pace of just over 4½ minutes per mile. The next day in Chicago, fellow Kenyan Brigid Kosgei broke the women’s record for the 26.2-mile distance, a mark that had stood for 16 years.
Can anyone in the Philadelphia Marathon on Nov. 24 hope to come close? Unlikely, but that won’t stop plenty of everyday plodders from adopting some of the high-tech performance products used by these elites.
adidas today announces that it expands the 4D range with a new reflective ALPHAEDGE 4D running shoe. The distinctive 3D printed design now features across the sportswear brand’s running, Stella McCartney , Originals and Statement product categories.
ADIDAS 4D was first revealed as concept release from FUTURECRAFT – adidas’ innovation incubator – in 2017. The midsole is printed with light and oxygen using Carbon Digital Light Synthesis™ technology pioneered by Silicon Valley based company, Carbon. The two companies came together to combine years of athlete data with the latest 3D printing technology which allows products to be created at considerable commercial scale. This technology enables huge benefits for both athletes and consumers so they will feel the future.
Your mother may have told you not to cry over spilled milk, but if you are all grown up, it’s perfectly OK to be downright livid over the global waste of milk. So why not wear it instead?
At least that’s the advice of Mi Terro Global, a Los Angeles–based start-up that describes itself as being “at the intersection of innovation, fashion, and eco-friendliness.” Mi Terro’s latest offering is the Limitless Milk Shirt, a T-shirt it describes as “the world’s first and only shirt made from upcycled milk.”
Gore assembled a field of its engineers, product specialists, sponsored athletes, and a select group of journalists in Banff last week to unveil a new version of Gore-Tex Pro, which will be available from their brand partners in the fall of 2020.
Outdoor journalists routinely become numb to “big announcements;” often the hyped new product or technology isn’t that different than current offerings. The Banff Gore event did reveal great enhancements to their tried and true waterproof/breathable (WP/B) ePTFE membrane, but a key element remained the same.
The new Gore-Tex Pro will be available in three versions: most durable, stretch, and most breathable, and partner brands will be able to use all three component technologies in a single garment to optimize performance and comfort. Of these three technologies, the stretch is the most prominent characteristic. Gore also explained initiatives to advance the sustainability of their offerings.
Why should Fido stay home while you have all the fun on race day? With Canicross, both dog and human share in the thrill of chasing a PR (and maybe a few squirrels).
Winter is a wonderful time of the year to acquire new perspectives on areas you have been to and to find new ones. The cold should not deter you! Snowshoeing allows us to explore well-trafficked areas and areas off the beaten path. However, snowshoeing in the backcountry can present itself with a few unique challenges. To help get you onto the right path and ensure you’re well prepared, we’ve listed 7 common mistakes people make when they first start, along with some backcountry snowshoeing tips to combat these mistakes.
“The Metropolitan Area Planning Council facilitated contracts between multiple Boston suburbs and Lime, a bike-sharing company, and received anonymized data on 300,000 trips as part of an agreement with the company,” reports Andy Metzger. MAPC released a research brief with analysis of the 18 months of data about dockless bikeshare in the metropolitan Boston area.
“According to the data, about 18 percent of miles traveled by Lime bikers were on stretches classified as ‘very high stress’ – roadways where the lane configurations and traffic make them especially risky for bike-car crashes,” writes Metzger.
Pew Research Center; Brooke Auxier, Lee Rainie, Monica Anderson, Andrew Perrin, Madhu Kumar and Erica Turner from
Majorities think their personal data is less secure now, that data collection poses more risks than benefits, and believe it is not possible to go through daily life without being tracked
Spending for consumer digital healthcare companies is set to explode in the next few years; the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology is currently reviewing the requirements for data sharing with the Department of Health and Human Services, and their initiatives will unlock a wave of data access never before seen in the U.S. healthcare system.
Already, startups and large technology companies are jockeying for position over how to leverage this access and take advantage of new sensor technologies that provide unprecedented windows into patient health.
Venture capital investors are expected to invest roughly $50 billion in approximately 4,500 startups in the healthcare industry, according to data from CB Insights. In all, there have been 3,409 investments made in the healthcare market through the third quarter of 2019, with 31% of those deals done in what CB Insights identifies as digital health companies.
“Whether you’re a Fitbit user worried about Google’s recent $2.1 billion purchase of the company or just generally privacy conscious, you should pay attention to where your health and fitness data goes and who has access. It’s among the most sensitive data you have.” … “It shouldn’t take long, and it follows the same principles as any other data privacy audit: Check which data is being collected, which parts of it are public, and how many of your apps can access it.”
Deforestation of the Brazilian Amazon has hit the highest annual level in a decade, according to new government data which highlights the impact the president, Jair Bolsonaro, has made on the world’s biggest rainforest.
The new numbers, showing almost 10,000 sq kms were lost in the year to August, were released as emboldened farm owners scuffled with forest defenders in Altamira, the Amazonian city at the heart of the recent devastation.
Researchers at Griffith University in Australia wanted to quantify just how much nature helps our mental health. In a recent study, they estimated that visits to national parks generate global mental health improvements to the tune of trillions of dollars by alleviating what would be huge costs in healthcare and work productivity. “To get funding and political support for national parks, it’s useful to show that they have an economic value,” says Ralf Buckley, ecotourism researcher and lead author of the study, published Tuesday in Nature Communications.
Last year, when Jesse Gerstin was leading the Clinton Foundation’s climate initiatives, one of his tasks was to bring reliable power to hospitals and other critical infrastructure in Puerto Rico. Hurricane Maria had devastated the island a year earlier, highlighting just how vulnerable its electrical grid was. It remains unreliable today.
Solar power made the most sense. The question was how to store energy to use at night. One of the engineers working with Gerstin suggested pairing the solar equipment with batteries made by SimpliPhi Power. The company, based in Oxnard, Calif., manufactures what it describes as clean, safe lithium-ion batteries, free of cobalt, the toxic element that can lead batteries to overheat and catch fire. SimpliPhi’s power systems instead use lithium iron phosphate (LFP), a compound that doesn’t have those risks. Blue Planet Energy and Sonnen, makers of energy storage systems, also produce batteries using the safer compound.
Bolivia is in the midst of a brutal upheaval. Following weeks of protests, armed forces have compelled longtime, left-leaning President Evo Morales to step down after reports of “manipulations” in last October’s vote and Morales’s subsequent call for new elections. Morales has sought asylum in Mexico, as right-wing and in some cases neo-fascist elements round up members of his party and burn the wiphala, the flag of the Aymara and Quechuan peoples.
Amidst all this, some on the left began to speculate on a disturbing subplot. Days before resigning, Morales had pulled out of a lithium mining deal with the German company ACI Systems Alemania, or ACISA. Lithium is an essential ingredient of the batteries that power electric vehicles, smart phones, e-bikes, solar panels and more. ACISA is a supplier for Tesla, stock of which rose sharply after news of Morales’s ouster broke. Not unreasonably—given the history of the region—some journalists and politicians began asking: Had this all just been yet another plot by Western Powers to seize a valuable commodity for multinational corporations?