Expert analysis: Four trends of fitness wearable technology

"Zhong Yun Net" Note: The concept of wearable equipment has been favored by manufacturers since the beginning, followed by a variety of products, but with the heat of the manufacturers, the market and the user's response is relatively cold, many users said that after starting to wear products, generally three months later on its no interest. The main reason for this is that wearable equipment is to force users to carry, to experience, but not into the user's daily use of equipment. However, in some refinement of the market, professional users still have a demand for wearable equipment, and for professional users, wearable devices can be more easily integrated into the relevant movement, or data recording process.

2014 is a year of wearable equipment boom, 2015 we will also see a large wave of more intelligent fitness tracking equipment in this field, and movement data tracking and statistics will be due to the emergence of these devices fundamentally changed.

At this year's CES International Consumer Electronics Show, wearable equipment is still one of the main actors in the limelight, whether smart clothing or smart band, the function of these products presents a trend, that is, it tracked the physical signs more and more comprehensive, but also more professional, such as respiratory rate or metabolic rate and so on. So, fitness wearable technology in the future direction of development specific? Wearable industry site Wareable Fitness technology expert Killand Arger (Kieran Alger) to interpret this.

Trend one: 7*24 hour heart rate tracking

Representative Product: Ampstrip-Mount Tracker

Despite the current market of fitness tracker products are a dime a year, but the new company Ampstrip at this CES on display of the Band-Aid tracker is still a bright. This small, lightweight, waterproof product can be posted near his chest for 24 hours to track heart rate, walking number, sleep quality, body temperature, respiration frequency, posture and other signs. Ampstrip length about 9cm, width about 2.5cm, thickness about 0.6cm, weight about 11g, at the same time the use of low allergy medical grade adhesives, such a lightweight design affixed to the user body will not feel any discomfort.

In function, Ampstrip can automatically recognize different motion states, whether running or swimming can automatically switch, and automatically synchronize the data to the smartphone. Ampstrip company hopes that through real-time understanding of the user's heart rate data, they can better understand the state of the heart in motion and the time after exercise heart rate recovery, and then more scientific, effective and healthy exercise. In addition, considering its excellent waterproof performance, it should be more suitable for the athletes who participate in triathlon. The product is currently in the beta phase and is expected to be put into production this summer.

Kieran: We haven't tested Ampstrip yet, but the product's acquisition of the CES 2015 Innovation Award looks really unique, and I'll be testing it for at least three days in the future if I have a chance. It is important to note, however, that a 24-hour tracking of the heart rate will be a major trend in wearable technology, after all, and that heart rate data is essential for those who are more sensitive to their health.

Ampstrip is not yet on the market, but Jawbone's UP3 bracelet and Basis Peak smart watches are devices that can monitor the wearer's heart rate 7*24 hours without sticking to them, so Ampstrip's future market prospects are unclear.

Trend two: Tracking professional training data

Representative Product: Statsports Viper training Data Tracking System

If you are a football enthusiast, you may recently see some football club players wearing a sports bra with statsports on them during training, which is actually Statsports's Viper training data tracking system built with GPS, Modules such as accelerometers and heart rate bands can record all players ' body functions and training data.

Of course, the football coach is most interested in the Statsports system can also track some very professional signs data, such as metabolic rate, respiration frequency, instantaneous acceleration and so on, the system will then analyze the player's physical fitness and training status, and then for the fitness coach to develop targeted training programs to provide a basis.

Kieran: I have experienced statsports this very powerful tracking system, but the function of this system is currently limited to professional athletes use, similar products are CrossFit, insanity and Bootcamp, These wearable devices are traceable to very professional sports data, and I hope they will be able to launch some products in the future in the face of ordinary consumers (like football, rugby and basketball amateurs).

Trend Three: Emotional tracking

Representative Product: Spire pressure monitor

Spire said the spire pressure monitor they developed was the first wearable device in the world to track mental health by monitoring respiration, which can be sandwiched in belts, bra straps, underwear and any part of the garment (just close to your body). Spire can measure the breathing rhythm of the user, and then determine the emotional state based on the duration and speed of respiration. If the breathing rate is slow, it means that people are in a state of peace; when breathing accelerates and becomes unstable, it means that people feel nervous or stressed, and when breathing quickly but stably, it means that people are concentrating.

Users can view their breathing data in real time in a matching mobile application, and the data will be stored in the cloud. At the same time, the application will also collect the situation to remind users of the current level of stress, and use the application to guide the frequency of breathing until it is restored to focus on their relaxed mental state.

Kieran: Frankly, when a wearable device tells you that your breathing rhythm is incorrect, you may feel bad about it, after all, this should be the easiest thing for everyone, but it's undeniable that I tried the spire pressure monitor and adjusted my breathing according to the advice it offered. It's true that there's a noticeable improvement in your emotional conditioning and control skills, so it's important to be aware of your breathing.

As we all know, a person's pressure level will directly affect the heart's health and fat storage, if you can maximize the emotional stability of the state of mind, for the maintenance of good health is essential. But I think that in the future these functions should be integrated into the smart clothes, not an independent wearable device, only so that users can use it frequently and get more useful information from it.

Trend four: Burning real heat

Representative Products: SmartLife smart clothes

Most people who like to work on calories should be familiar with calorie statistics, which helps people to keep fit by exercising enough, but most wearable devices use accelerometers to determine the movement of the user first, and then combine data such as age, sex and weight, By using a standard calculation formula to estimate the amount of heat consumed by a user, the results are clearly inaccurate and do not apply to the amount of calories you eat.

SmartLife smart clothes can effectively solve this problem, the series of built-in sensors can track the user's multiple sets of data, including heart rate and exercise methods, and then based on the data to accurately calculate the user's consumption of calories.

Kieran Analysis: Like the Ampstrip Tracker, smartlife the thermal statistics function of the smart clothes is very powerful, but the future can be recognized by consumers also depends on its ability to achieve 7*24 hours of uninterrupted tracking, wearing a sense of comfort, the use of equipment is easy to understand and so on. However, in the current consumer demand, the smart clothes market is not big, after all, most people are not accustomed to the built-in various sensors in their own clothes, especially the underwear, so the popularity of smart clothes may still need a long time.

(translator: Guang June Baidu News and technical cooperation with NetEase, reprint, please indicate the source)

(Responsible editor: Mengyishan)