Outdoors + Tech newsletter – November 27, 2018

Outdoors + Tech news articles, blog posts and research papers for November 27, 2018

 

bracelets


How the fitness tracker became a million dollar idea

BBC News, Aaron Heslehurst from

Fitness trackers – those things you put around your wrist to measure your physical activity and your health – have been on the mass market for fewer than 10 years.

Nowadays, hundreds of millions are sold every year. But a lot of the technology inside these hi-tech gadgets was developed as long as a century ago, as the BBC’s Aaron Heslehurst explains.

 

Accuracy of the wearable activity tracker Garmin Forerunner 235 for the assessment of heart rate during rest and activity

Journal of Sports Sciences from

Accurate measures of heart rate (HR) during rehabilitation and sporting activities are important for precise exercise prescription to maintain or increase capacity. Wrist-worn activity monitors utilizing photoplethysmography technology (PPG) to configure HR show discrepant findings regarding validity depending on the type and intensity of exercises measured, and no previous study has yet investigated the accuracy during running at speeds exceeding 9.6 km/h. The purpose of the study was to assess the accuracy of the Garmin Forerunner 235 (GF), at different exercises at various intensities. Twenty-nine participants participated in the study. HR was measured with the (GF) during rest and three submaximal exercise conditions; cycling, treadmill walking, running and rapid arm movements. The GF had high agreement with the PL during rest (r = 0.997) cycling at 150 W (Rho = 0.889), treadmill running at 8.7 km/h (r = 0.906) and 12.1 km/h (r = 0.845) and rapid arm movements (r = 0.928, r = 0.745) but a low agreement during cycling at 50 W (Rho = 0.269) and 100W (Rho = 0.462) and treadmill walking at 4.8 km/h (r = 0.481). The results varied across exercise conditions and intensities and although the GF provided accurate measurements of HR during rest, cycling at 150W, treadmill running, and rapid arm movement measurement latency may potentially affect application.

 

Sports Technology Buyers Guide & Recommendations: Winter 2018-2019

Ray Maker, DC Rainmaker blog from

Each year around this time I publish my complete guide of sports tech recommendations, covering a wide range of sport gadget areas. My goal here being to give my specific recommendations – exactly the same recommendations I’d give to my own friends and family. This post isn’t here to list every option on the market in an effort to make every manufacturer happy. Of course, as more and more companies get into the market, there ends up being more and more possible scenarios as the products expand in functionality.

One could try and write recommendations for every possible edge case, but realistically I think there’s probably already too many categories below as it is. Plus, that’s what the comments section is for. I try as best as possible to answer all those quirky edge-case questions.

 

Why Your GPS Watch Is Not Entirely Accurate

The New York Times, Jen A. Miller from

… First, while a GPS watch can be a wonderful tool, “it’s not perfect. If you think about it, this little tiny thing on your wrist is acquiring signals from outer space and using that to geolocate you,” she said.

Second, unless you are running a race in the exact same way it was measured, you will run longer than the race distance. That is, assuming it’s a USA Track & Field certified race, the official distance is mapped by following the shortest possible route, at the inside of every turn.

“As a human being you are probably not being that accurate,” Roberts said. You’re weaving around runners in a crowded race or going to the edge of the pack around a turn.

And third, if you’re running in a city with a lot of tall buildings, or in a place with a lot of tree cover, satellites aren’t always going to be able to pick you up, which means the measurement won’t be as accurate

 

non-wrist wearable


‘Smart’ toilets would be a huge boon to public health

CNBC, Commentary, Sameer Barry from

As a gastroenterologist-in-training, here’s an innovation I could use: A “smart” toilet.

What do I mean by that? Well, I’m not referring to those comfort-focused toilets with warm-water washing, air drying, and heated seats have been ubiquitous in Japan (and at Google’s headquarters) for years. And I’m not talking about the hygiene-focused toilets that made recent news when Bill Gates announced a $200 million investment in toilet design to convert human waste into useable fertilizer and clean water. Although the latter is useful and needed, as the the improved sanitation could reduce infant deaths by 50,000 and save billions of dollars annually.

The smart toilet I’m referring to is a health-tracking toilet.

 

Smart rings: the fitness tracker on your finger

London Evening Standard, Katie Strick from

… Motiv’s size also makes it a clever sleep tool. “Because there isn’t a clunky wristwatch (or a bright screen) interfering with your sleep, users are more inclined to wear their ring all night,” Unadkat continues. He says this helps to generate more consistent data and feedback.

Sleep is a focal point for all of these new micro-wearables. Prince Harry was recently spotted wearing Oura, a high-end sleep-tracking ring that tracks your metrics 24/7 and was named CES’s Best of Innovation Award honoree in 2016.

 

After five years, Verily shelves project to create glucose-sensing contact lens

STAT, Rebecca Robbins from

Verily, the life sciences-focused Google offshoot, has shelved the ambitious project to develop a glucose-sensing contact lens that inspired its founding.

In a blog post on Friday, Verily said it will put “on hold” its work on the contacts, which had been envisioned as a way to relieve people with diabetes of the need for needle sticks to test their blood sugar. The project was begun almost five years ago by Google — before the launch of Verily. Verily began a collaboration in 2014 with partner Alcon, a division of Novartis, to develop the lens.

Had the project worked, it could have overhauled the $10 billion diabetes monitoring market, because millions of patients must frequently calibrate their diet and insulin intake by drawing blood and measuring its glucose level.

 

Plantiga’s Instrumented Insoles Work As Force Plates for Your Sneakers

SportTechie, Joe Lemire from

Few sports require as many pivots, direction changes, and accelerations as tennis—a training workload the USTA is now tracking using an innovative orthotic made by Plantiga. The tennis governing body has begun outfitting some of its players with instrumented insoles that act like portable force plates in each athlete’s sneakers.

“One of the big things that we measure is the accumulation of impact force over a given session,” said Plantiga cofounder and CEO Quin Sandler. “Every time you hit the ground, you spike with force. If you hit the ground stiff and your frame is stiff because you’re tired, more force is created.”

 

Sweden’s Push to Get Rid of Cash Has Some Saying, ‘Not So Fast’

The New York Times, Liz Alderman from

… Ask most people in Sweden how often they pay with cash, and the answer is “almost never.” A fifth of Swedes, in a country of 10 million people, do not use automated teller machines anymore. More than 4,000 Swedes have implanted microchips in their hands, allowing them to pay for rail travel and food, or enter keyless offices, with a wave. Restaurants, buses, parking lots and even pay toilets depend on clicks rather than cash.

 

software


How Garmin’s Body Battery Can Teach You to Thrive

Garmin Blog from

Physical activity, stress, rest and sleep. Each has a discernible impact on your ability to keep pace, tackle challenges, and adapt to your environment. Garmin’s new Body Battery™, powered by the Firstbeat analytics engine, brings each of these elements together to form a simple, easy-to-follow reporting of your body’s energy levels.

Based on feedback from your own physiology, Body Battery delivers personalized insight to help you navigate from survive to thrive. Success happens when you manage your resources wisely.

 

hardware


A cheaper, smaller Raspberry Pi 3 is now available

Engadget, Rachel England from

The Raspberry Pi Foundation “has been able to turn its attention to what it calls one of its ‘most frequently requested ‘missing’ products’: the Raspberry Pi 3 Model A+.”

 

gear


The influence of prolonged running and footwear on lower extremity biomechanics

Footwear Science journal, Brooks Running Company from

The effect of maximal isolated muscle and cardiovascular fatigue on lower extremity biomechanics during running has been investigated extensively. However, the majority of runners do not run to exhaustion regularly. Consequently, research and industry are interested in biomechanical changes over the course of a typical prolonged run and how footwear technology may affect them. This study investigated the influence of neutral and stability footwear worn during a 42-minute prolonged treadmill run on lower extremity biomechanics. Fourteen male rearfoot runners completed two prolonged running sessions where they ran for 21 minutes on a force instrumented treadmill in a neutral shoe (baseline run). Participants then changed into another neutral shoe of the exact same construction but a different color or into a stability shoe and ran for a further 21 minutes (intervention run). Three-dimensional kinematics and kinetics were measured at the beginning and end of each 21-minute running period. Main effects for time were observed at the hip, knee, and ankle during both the baseline and intervention runs. Particularly, increased knee flexion and rearfoot eversion observed during mid-stance may exhibit a strategy to reduce the effective mass and minimize joint loads applied to the foot and knee. No main effects for footwear condition were found in lower extremity biomechanics. However, individual responses to the neutral and stability shoe conditions were observed. Running shoe design should: (1) focus on both acute and prolonged changes in lower extremity biomechanics at the individual level, and (2) further investigate the use of materials/architecture that allow runners to stay within their initial (baseline) preferred motion path and/or provide greater support when preferred motion path changes throughout a prolonged run.

 

Urgent need for sole innovation to reduce ankle, knee and foot injury

Sports Engineering, Inc. from

… The self-recovering footwear sole technology is platform technology because it works for a vast range of segments. The basic concept of SEI’s platform technology is that horizontal load transmission from the playing surface to the foot is controlled by a specially engineered sole.

 

What makes the world’s fastest shoe so fast? New study provides insight

University of Colorado-Boulder, CU Boulder Today from

The secret ingredient in the world’s fastest marathon shoe lies primarily in its squishy midsole, not in its controversial carbon fiber plate, new CU Boulder research suggests.

“This paper demonstrates that the bulk of the energy saved through this shoe comes through its softer, better foam,” said senior author and integrative physiology professor Rodger Kram. “The carbon fiber plate is just a cherry on top.”

The study, published today in the journal Sports Medicine, marks the latest scientific chapter for the Nike Vaporfly 4%, the fabled racing flat worn by five of the six top finishers at this month’s New York City Marathon and the two men who toppled the marathon and half marathon world records earlier this fall.

 

materials


A high-tech spin on spider silk

Carnegie Mellon University, College of Engineering from

… [Sheng] Shen and his team have developed a polymer nanofiber that is strong, lightweight, thermally conductive, electrically insulating, and bio-compatible. They accomplished all of this in a single polymer fiber strand measuring less than 100 nanometers.

According to Shen, the potential impact of this development is tremendous. The characteristics of his polymer nanofiber give it application in aerospace and automotive systems, civil and structural engineering, medical devices, and robotics.

 

Terramar Sports bags Drirelease Innovation Award

Fibre2Fashion from

Terramar Sports has been announced as 2018’s Drirelease Innovation Award winner by Optimer Brands, the parent company of Drirelease, for breaking new ground with their Terramar Transport Merino and Matrix Merino base layer system. The award celebrates innovation in the design and construction of active wear that promotes the comfort of wearers.

“It is an honour to present Terramar with the 2018 Drirelease Innovation Award for their commitment to create far-reaching solutions that enhances human comfort,” said Ashwin Jaju, president of Drirelease. “The Matrix Merino and Transport Merino Base Layer Systems are perfect examples of optimizing performance while maintaining environmental responsibility.”

Designed by the some of the best minds in the outdoor retail industry, the Terramar Transport Merino and Matrix Merino base layer system utilises Drirelease wool with recycled polyester and innovative fabric construction to keep wearers protected and comfortable in the most challenging elements.

 

Thin, Flexible New Solar Cells Could Soon Line Your Shirt

WIRED, Science, Amelia Urry from

The general rule when developing a new kind of solar technology is to expect progress to be slow. Take silicon solar cells, the most ubiquitous and recognizable form of photovoltaic generations today. When silicon panels were first built in the early 1950s, they could only turn about 6 percent of the light that hit them into electricity. More than 30 years later, that number had inched up to 20 percent, and today—30 years after that—they regularly perform in the mid 20s.

So when, in 2017, a new material jumped from 3.8 percent to 22.7 percent efficiency after less than 8 years of development, it got people’s attention.

“This was the first time we really didn’t know much about the material, and we were still able to make really efficient solar cells,” says Joe Berry, who works on solar cells at the National Renewable Energy Lab in Golden, Colorado. And that efficiency will only continue to improve as scientists learn more about the new material, Berry explains. “My expectation is that it will be faster than anything that’s happened before.”

 

stories


THE MICHIGAN – A workout so nice they only named it once.

Lope Magazine, Liam Boylan-Pett from

… go run 1600 meters at 10-kilometer pace. Then rest for about twenty seconds before going into a 2-kilometer tempo on a road loop. Finish back at the track and roll into 1200 meters at 5-kilometer pace. Then do another road-loop tempo before you hammer 800 meters at mile to 3-kilometer effort. Go out for one last tempo and come back to tag 400 meters. As fast as you can.

And that’s it. You’ve completed the workout that Warhurst is so proud of. The workout that mixes strength and speed. The workout that is great for cross-country and the track. The workout that coaches and elite athletes nationwide have incorporated into their repertoire. The workout that is so well known it goes simply by one name.

That’s The Michigan.

 

Letter From Campo, California: Hiking the Route Border-Crossers Take From Mexico Into the U.S.

Pacific Standard, Caroline Benner from

“Send me a photo of the bottom of your shoes,” Agent Theron Francisco of the San Diego Border Patrol says. I am planning to hike a route border-crossers take from Mexico through the wilderness outside Campo, California. Francisco wants a record of my footprints. That way, if agents get on my tail, he can call them off.

I have backpacked in this area before, along the famed Pacific Crest Trail, and wondered how the border-crossers hiking alongside me—hidden in the brush—were faring. This time, I will move north from the border fence as they do, hiking cross-country, from waypoint to waypoint—first to an electrical tower, just north of the border, then to a hilltop farther west. I will outfit myself as they do, in jeans and knockoff Keds. I will carry a gallon of water in one hand, and a backpack with candy, sodas, a trash bag, a bathmat, and shoelaces.

 

Beginner’s Luck: On the Art Of Setting Goals and Creating Habits

Triathlete.com, Meredith Atwood from

… What triathlon has taught me over the last eight years is that the day-to-day work is the gold. Also known as “consistency,” training each day to the best of our ability is the only secret to achieving that big, long goal. It’s easy to click “register,” and then get overwhelmed. It’s also easy to click register, and then do nothing—and attempt to cram for the race or the goal. It’s also the recipe for a rough day or potential injury.

 

data


Can artificial intelligence improve maps for land …

Thomson Reuters Foundation, Gregory Scruggs from

In December 2016, environmental group Chesapeake Conservancy unveiled one of the largest, high-resolution land-cover maps made in the United States.

It analysed every square metre of satellite data in the 207 cities and counties that touch the watershed of the Chesapeake Bay on the U.S. eastern seaboard.

The bay, North America’s biggest estuary, has struggled to recover from overfishing and pollution, and the conservancy hopes the map will guide environmental restoration decisions like where to plant stormwater-absorbing trees.

Creating a 100,000-square-mile (259,000 square kilometres) digital map that defined land use – water, vegetation or concrete – at such a fine scale was “gruelling”, said project director Jeff Allenby.

 

How to share data on species to help conserve them… whilst avoiding them being exploited by poachers

Wildlabs.net, Ayesha Tulloch from

In this case study, conservation ecologist Ayesha Tulloch takes us behind the scenes of her recent paper, which came out in Nature Ecology & Evolution earlier this month. In this paper, Ayesha and her team present a decision tree they developed for assessing the conservation risks and rewards of making biodiversity data open to the public.

 

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