Smart Goggles

Well I was going to write about an idea that I had, goggles that can keep track of your laps, I will include that at the end of this story.

Brilliant, Brilliant designer Katie Williams created a prototype of swim goggles as part of her design degree at Brunel University in West London. Katie like many has spent hours in the water and will always loose count of the laps we are on, for me I always think that I have done more laps than I probably have. Well she got tierd of this and decided to do something about it. Williams' system incorporates an electronic device, which houses a compass, at the back of the headstrap on the goggles. There is also a small button on the side of the goggles, which activates and deactivates the device when pressed. When a swimmer enters the pool, they press the button once, which signals to the compass the direction the swimmer will be traveling. When the swimmer turns, the compass detects that the co-ordinates have changed and registers the time. The information, including the total time spent swimming, the number of laps completed and the speed traveled are shown in a tiny heads-up display inside the goggle lens, using a system that reflects information off tiny mirrors.

My idea is a little different:
Technology hasn't always help improve what we do, if any one is interested in helping me develop my ideas you can contact me at tubaduba@healthcurrency.com attention Aaron Usiskin, we have SwiMP3 by Finis players that can work underwater for listening while you swim, great not useful to me but a good idea at $200+ dollars. What I would like to see "literally" is Speedo, or any other company to develop a device to count my flip turns. Lets call my device LapCounter(tm), attach a device to my foot (the pad of the foot) and within the goggles you could have a little display that can tell me after a flip turn when my foot pushes off the wall, what lap I am on. I think this is simple use an RFID device (pressure pad) attached to the ball of the foot, and inside or attached to the goggles can be a display that shows what lap you are on.

It can be just like the SwiMP3, the device attached to the back of the strap, placed on the back of the skull. This limits drag and then a wire lead to the goggles will show you what lap you are on using e-paper technology (maybe). Using existing technology electronic paper-based system, several manufactures are hot on this Citizen, Seiko and Hitachi to name a few," American shopkeepers may want to take a cue from Japan, where retailers are testing an electronic paper-based system that lets them change posted prices based on data fed to the shelves from a central server. The displays were created by tire company Bridgestone, and use a substance they call Electro Liquid Powder, which Bridgestone claims is brighter and more easily viewable than comparable LCD displays."
Thanks Core77.com and Engadget.

Polar Cadence Sensors

This one is a "no" brainier. Buy two and one for your road bike the other for your Mountain, at $30 bucks a pop combined with the Polar S625X™ Running Computer you are set. Designed for the cycling enthusiast, cross trainer, advanced exerciser or athlete and it is wireless and allows you to monitor your pedal cadence as you ride. After completing the workout, download your cadence graph along with heart rate and speed graphs. Maintain the right cadence for those high spin workouts! The cadence sensor sets up quickly and gives you your pedal RPMs for quick feedback on your “spinning”. GET ONE Polar USA.

Nike MaxSight

Bausch & Lomb / Nike has developed a contact lens that helps you see better. Imagine being able to have a pair of Maui Jims as contacts. They are design so that you can wear them are sunglasses that filter out the bad light and enhance your vision for sports. They are for prescription and non prescription a bit pricey $300 for a 6 months supply, but I'll bet that when first released Bausch & Lomb / Nike will have a hit. Bausch & Lomb / Nike

Pad Learns About Your feet

Well we have LLBean that will take a outline of your foot to make sure the shoe fits. Now Yves Behar designed a shoe or pad that you wear around the house or walk down the street and it collects the data, thenyou take the chip out dowload the data and create your own very own shoes. A new pair of shoes in another color, form or material and ergonomically customized using your data gathered while on your walk. This is still in production but look to Nike or a large shoe company to buy this up. Imagine that in a couple of years that you go to a shoe store wear a pair of slippers around the store, they have a device that you can download the information too, from there it is uploaded to Nikes development center, you build your shoe and within a week,personalizedd shoes.
GIZMODO

Polar USB IR Interface Kit

This is a great little device for people with/WO the IRDA on your computer. Now must of us have laptops I am assuming, my dell has the port built in but not activated and there are a dozen of sites that tell you have to activate the IRDA, but for $40 why bother. Once I got it installed and followed the instructions to a tee, the little device works like a charm. A problem that I encounter is that if I unplug it before I shut down I get a blue screen so be careful and enjoy.

NY Triathlon and Accenture

Well, after months of waiting and having them say that the event was closed I was registered in the NYC Triathlon, that was the good news, the bad news was the plans that I made could not be broken so I must wait till next year, I keep telling myself that I will be better prepared. Oh well, the other good news is that Accenture has some cool technology that can track the athlete via cell phone or website, very much like the sailing post that I added earlier. These are some things that the tracking will include.

On July 10th, 2005 take part in the excitement and see how your athlete is performing during the Ford New York City Triathlon!

The athlete tracking capabilities will include:


Finish Line Video - for the first time ever you can view a live stream of the finish line during the race. Once the race is completed you will also be able to see a 30 second video clip of your athlete crossing the finish line!

Interactive Map - during the race you will be able to view your athlete's split times and his/her progress on an interactive map.

Athlete Statistics - once the results are in, you will be able to see your athlete's statistics such as placings and average speed.

You can track up to three athletes. The technology is getting better and better to be able to launch my next IDEA, any Venture firms that are interested you can contact me through this site.

To all the Triathletes participating in the event good luck.

Earth Browser (Google)

This program in totally addicting, earth.google.com . I thought it was just me being a Geek, but I showed my buddy who does a lot of Enduro racing and he could not be pulled away from the computer. You are amazed by first the detail that you can see house, roads, mountains, etc.. After you find your house and your friends and family you start to really notice the features that it has and can be download to you computer. GPS, Elevation, distance, locations and these are the ones that I find useful. There is city and state boundaries, gas stations, directions, water ways, you will find yourself spending hours with the FREE version and for $20+ you can get a more advanced version. I could keep going and for the ones that are saying what does this have to do with Fitness technology, imagine printing out your whole routes and marking then up keeping a binder and referencing them. Yea this is cool.

Burley Baby "new" hitch

The Burley baby trailer in one of the best little fitness devices that I have in the garage, it might be a little low tech for this blog but I thought since the 4th weekend is upon us what a better way to get out and enjoy it with your kids in tow. Right now I have to attach it to the triangle part of the frame and can't use it with a suspension bike, till now The Burley Alternative Hitch---Hook Up with Virtually Any Bike, this is gong to be great. It won't damage your frame, so why wait get out and enjoy.

Mavic

I have full Mavic wheels on my Specialized S-Works Pro Hardtail, I upgraded to Mavic Rims and Hubs and the bike is screaming fast and light. The rims have some flex to them, but overall I am very pleased. Now I have not tired to use this digital wireless transmitter, but I have the bike shop looking to hook me up. With the interface and easy of use what more could you ask for from a company that produces nothing but quality products. Using an exclusive Mavic® coded digital transmission technology, Win-Tech® is lightweight and easy to use. It can be fitted to any bike and receive up to 9 stats. No cables, no interference, just a clean bike with completely integrated elements.

Free your Feet

At first I though hey this is such hype, but leave it to Nike to spend millions on developing a sneaker that make it feel as though you are running bare foot. Nike sponsor many college and while visiting, they notice they were training in their shoes but racing bare foot, this got Nike to thinking and BLAM, Nike Free. Now I have not tried the shoes but I will, after reading a great article in the NY Times this morning about running bare foot. "The idea for the Free was born after two Nike researchers, visiting the Stanford track team, found that their sponsored runners ran sprints barefoot. Vin Lananna, their coach, had encouraged them to take off their shoes. "I felt that as shoes became more elaborate and intricate, the feet were getting weaker," said Mr. Lananna, who is now director of athletics at Oberlin College in Ohio. Mr. Lananna had always outfitted his team in Nike's cheapest and least structured shoe. The one time he experimented with Nike's best, his team was plagued by plantar fasciitis and Achilles problems. He now likes his runners to use the Frees."

KEEN

Started selling shoes in the summer/fall of 2004, and that's when I bought mine and have been so happy that in the winter of 2005 I bought a pair of their shoes, I am hooked, hype or not. If you live on a desert island and have not heard of KEEN Footwear these are the fastest selling shoes, in 2004 KEEN sold $30 million worth of shoes around 700,000 pairs. To make you think a little Teva three years to reach $1 million in sales. For sailing or water sports are were these shoes shine, the new docksiders. Jim Van Dine owner and visionary to keep it simple and make changes on the fly by using freelance talent. A big toe protector and boat soles, these grip. What I like about this company is that they have done no advertising. Started all by blogs!! The power of the internet community is unbelievable.

The Incredible Egg

A little restraint goes a long way, so it would seem. For those who have no self control or a family that is way to crazy, here is the solution. I was reading the NYTimes this morning, and in the new reduced circuits section was an article about this egg that helps control how fast you eat, the slower you eat and your mind has an opportunity to adjust and say "hey I'm full". It was also being used to help control your family and have a peaceful meal together, like in the old days. Give me a break, how about a little control over yourself and family, my god pull yourself together.
PowerSeed

BodyPad

This seems to be gaining steam just over the last couple of months, or maybe since I have started this blog I have noticed more technology that can help with fitness and even training. I am looking at these devices for training and then fitness. The BodyPad device uses four pressure-sensitive sensors, two on the biceps and two on the knees, along with a wireless radio belt. It works with PS2 and most fighting games. There is not much written on their site that describes how it works but it is pretty self explanatory. BodyPad

Watch that Monitors

Here is another example of how technology is helping improve peoples lives. The next couple of years we are going to see numerous device that can monitor many body functions that right now we need to go see a doctor or prick our finger to get the results.
"A wrist-watch-like Glucoband, with fully integrated LCD screen, electronic circuits, integrated electrodes, battery and adjustable wrist-band, is placed on the person's wrist. The initial measurement process takes only a few minutes, however, in the monitoring mode, measurements can be continuous and only the frequency of measurements must be determined. The Glucoband targets diabetics who are measuring their own blood glucose, and medical personnel who are using blood glucose measuring and monitoring devices in clinics, hospitals and other point-of-care facilities. The measurements meet FDA requirements for accuracy and correlation."

Design Footwear (anyone)

Well the biggest shoe company has done another first, you can pick equipment, footwear and something they are calling collections and actually design your own look (color mostly).
"NIKEiD.com, a site which allows users to individually design their own Nike products, recently relaunched version 2.5. The new NIKE iD site offers an expanded lineup of customizable gear, including Nike Free, plus several active life products like the Dunk, Rift, Presto, and FC. Additionally, the site is opening up to a wider global audience. Version 2.5 now serves both the U.S. and European markets, with more countries scheduled to be added soon."
It is pretty cool and as far as I can tell there is no price difference. Imagine your whole soccer, basketball, football, track can have the same shoe, that used to be only for select colleges and pro athletes. They are a company that I feel used to have great running (that's how they started, remember waffle tread, Yellow sneakers), their running shoes have changes some would say for the better, one thing is for sure they have the money to put towards technology and coming up with innovative ideas. Hey they even sponsor one of the most recognizable athletes of all time LANCE.