A wearable computer, also known as a body-borne computer, is a computing device worn on the body. The definition of 'wearable computer' may be narrow or broad, extending to smartphones or even ordinary wristwatches.
Garmin Ltd. is an American, Swiss-domiciled multinational technology company founded in 1989 by Gary Burrell and Min Kao in Lenexa, Kansas, United States, with headquarters in Olathe, Kansas. Since 2010, the company is legally incorporated in Schaffhausen, Switzerland.
A heart rate monitor (HRM) is a personal monitoring device that allows one to measure/display heart rate in real time or record the heart rate for later study. It is largely used to gather heart rate data while performing various types of physical exercise. Measuring electrical heart information is referred to as electrocardiography.
The Garmin Forerunner series is a selection of sports watches produced by Garmin. Most models use the Global Positioning System (GPS), and are targeted at road runners and triathletes. Forerunner series watches are designed to measure distance, speed, heart rate (optional), time, altitude, and pace.
A cyclocomputer, cycle computer, cycling computer or cyclometer is a device mounted on a bicycle that calculates and displays trip information, similar to the instruments in the dashboard of a car. The computer with display, or head unit, usually is attached to the handlebar for easy viewing. Some GPS watches can also be used as display.
Polar Electro Oy is a Finnish manufacturer of sports training computers, particularly known for developing the world's first wireless heart rate monitor.
A cycling power meter is a device on a bicycle that measures the power output of the rider. Most cycling power meters use strain gauges to measure torque applied, and when combined with angular velocity, calculate power.
Fullpower is a Santa Cruz, California-based privately held developer of cloud-based IoT and wearable product technology used for activity tracking and sleep monitoring. Fullpower specializes in wireless technology, microelectromechanical systems, and nanotechnology. The company holds over 125 patents for its intellectual property, which it licenses to manufacturers.
The Nike+iPod Sports Kit is an activity tracker device, developed by Nike, Inc., which measures and records the distance and pace of a walk or run. The Nike+iPod consists of a small transmitter device attached to or embedded in a shoe, which communicates with either the Nike+ Sportband, a receiver plugged into an iPod Nano. It can also work directly with a 2nd Generation iPod Touch, iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, iPhone 4S, iPhone 5, The Nike+iPod was announced on May 23, 2006. On September 7, 2010, Nike released the Nike+ Running App on the App Store, which used a tracking engine powered by MotionX that does not require the separate shoe sensor or pedometer. This application works using the accelerometer and GPS of the iPhone and the accelerometer of the iPod Touch, which does not have a GPS chip. Nike+Running is compatible with the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus down to iPhone 3GS and iPod touch. On June 21, 2012, Nike released Nike+ Running App for Android. The current app is compatible with all Android phones running 4.0.3 and up.
Withings is a French consumer electronics company headquartered in Issy-les-Moulineaux, France. It also has offices in Boston, Massachusetts, USA, and Hong Kong, and distributes its products worldwide. Withings is known for design and innovation in connected devices, such as the first Wi-Fi scale on the market, an FDA-cleared blood pressure monitor, a smart sleep system, and a line of automatic activity tracking watches. It also provides B2B services for healthcare providers and researchers.
A smartwatch is a wearable computer in the form of a watch; modern smartwatches provide a local touchscreen interface for daily use, while an associated smartphone app provides management and telemetry, such as long-term biomonitoring. While early models could perform basic tasks, such as calculations, digital time telling, translations, and game-playing, smartwatches released since 2015 have more general functionality closer to smartphones, including mobile apps, a mobile operating system and WiFi/Bluetooth connectivity. Some smartwatches function as portable media players, with FM radio and playback of digital audio and video files via a Bluetooth headset. Some models, called watch phones, have mobile cellular functionality such as making telephone calls.
Motoactv is a smartwatch sold by Motorola Mobility which contains a number of hardware features and software applications tailored to fitness training. The watch contains apps for monitoring athletic activity using a built-in accelerometer to measure strides and GPS to measure distance. It can also be synced with a Speed/Cadence Bike Sensor or foot pod via ANT+ technology. The watch can communicate with external devices over Bluetooth 4.0 such as pulse sensor and Bluetooth stereo headphones for music. In addition, there is a DJ mode that will custom tailor the music dynamically to the workout. It was announced on October 18, 2011, and released to the US market on November 6, 2011. The watch was discontinued by Motorola in 2013.
An activity tracker, also known as a fitness tracker, is a device or application for monitoring and tracking fitness-related metrics such as distance walked or run, calorie consumption, and in some cases heartbeat. It is a type of wearable computer. The term is now primarily used for smartwatches that are synced, in many cases wirelessly, to a computer or smartphone for long-term data tracking. There are also independent mobile and Facebook apps. Some evidence has found that the use of these type of devices results in less weight loss rather than more. Sleep tracker devices have a tendency to underdetect wakefulness.
The Samsung Gear Fit is a fitness wristband made by Samsung Electronics, and forms part of their Samsung Gear family of smartwatch devices. It features a curved AMOLED display. Its design was developed to appeal to people interested in fitness and style. The included applications facilitate monitoring fitness activities:
The Moto 360 is an Android Wear-based smartwatch announced by Motorola Mobility in 2014. It was announced on March 18, 2014 and was released on September 5, 2014 in the US along with new models of the Moto X and the Moto G.
The Apple Watch is a smartwatch produced by Apple Inc. It incorporates fitness tracking, health-oriented capabilities, and wireless telecommunication, and integrates with watchOS and other Apple products and services. The Apple Watch was released in April 2015, and quickly became the best-selling wearable device: 4.2 million were sold in the second quarter of fiscal 2015, and more than 115 million people were estimated to use an Apple Watch as of December 2022. Apple has introduced a new generation of the Apple Watch with improved internal components each September—each labeled by Apple as a 'Series', with certain exceptions.
Wahoo Fitness is a fitness technology company based in Atlanta. Its CEO is Mike Saturnia. Founded in 2009 by Chip Hawkins, Wahoo Fitness has offices in London, Berlin, Tokyo, Boulder and Brisbane.
Mobvoi Information Technology Company Limited is a technological company headquartered in Beijing, China that sells and develops consumer electronics and Chinese voice recognition, natural language processing, and vertical search technology in-house.
A pulse watch, also known as a pulsometer or pulsograph, is an individual monitoring and measuring device with the ability to measure heart or pulse rate. Detection can occur in real time or can be saved and stored for later review. The pulse watch measures electrocardiography data while the user is performing tasks, whether it be simple daily tasks or intense physical activity. The pulse watch functions without the use of wires and multiple sensors. This makes it useful in health and medical settings where wires and sensors may be an inconvenience. Use of the device is also common in sport and exercise environments where individuals are required to measure and monitor their biometric data.
