Ready for the triathlon. Photo: Amiigo
Wearable sports sensors like Nike Fuel and BodyBug are great at determining that you’re moving and even how vigorously you’re exercising. But they’re not so good at determining whether you’re riding a bike or swimming or doing dead lifts in the gym. For that level of activity differentiation you need to turn to MIT students.
The folks behind the Amiigo wearable wristband and shoe sensors state that their upcoming device will be able to determine a person’s actual activity. It will be able to tell the difference between things like running, cycling, lifting weights, and swimming. “Our technology uses a discrimination algorithm to differentiate between the exercises,” co-founder Abe Carter told Wired. “The algorithm converts acceleration data into descriptions of each activity being performed.”
In other words, it knows what you’re doing without you having to train the device.
To pull off this feat, the waterproof Amiigo uses two sensors, a wristband and shoe clip. Carter says that the sensors can collect data independently of each other, meaning you won’t have to use both at all times. But wearing both will increase accuracy.
In addition to tracking movements, the wristband also collects physiological metrics like heart rate, blood oxygen levels and skin temperature and correlates that data with the activity. “Or system is not just identifying what you’re doing, but we’re identifying how your body’s responding to what you’re doing,” Carter said.
Both sensors store workout data until it can be offloaded to the Amiigo iOS or Android app via Bluetooth. The app then crunches the numbers and presents the relevant workout info, which you can compare against previous workouts or share with friends via Facebook or Amiigo’s own social platform. Facebook integration is nice (and, frankly, expected at this point), but sharing and challenging friends via the Amiigo platform means you don’t have to let the whole world know you can only do 10 pushups via Facebook.
“Our main focus is to make fitness more fun.” Carter said “That whole social environment is a lot better and engaging if you have more data to share and you can use your actual workouts to compete.”
Amigo will start accepting preorders on Oct. 29, at a special early first-adopter price of $89, through its website. The system will begin shipping in April with a $119 price tag.
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