Community Magazine July 2014

80 COMMUNITY MAGAZINE MORRIS MASSRY Fitness Gadgets Summer is here, and there’s no better time to get back in shape. Technology has opened up many new ways to slim down and stay healthy this season. Here are a few of the latest and greatest innovations to help you get fit! HI-TECH Fitness Gadgets Fitness Gadgets Fitness Gadgets Fitness Gadgets FitBit Force Babolat Play Pure Drive AiQ BioMan Withings Smart Body Analyzer We’ve all seen those big clunky pedometers of times past. FitBit has taken the next step and created an all-in-one health tracker. The Force measures your steps taken, your distance traversed, your calories burned, the number of floors you’ve climbed, and the amount of time you’ve been in a higher state of activity (like jogging). The Force has just one button to press to scroll through your stats. Holding down the button will start a stopwatch, which is a handy feature. That same button is also how you track your sleep at night; you start it when you hit the sheets, and stop it when you wake up. All your data is wirelessly synced to the cloud. The smartphone apps let you sync your Force throughout the day, without even having to think about it. Once your data is synced, you can dig in and see a graphical analysis of your activity patterns, either on Fitbit.com or through the Fitbit apps. They’re generally laid out in a clear, organized fashion and easy to understand. Did I mention that this thing tells time, too? Not all scales are created your breathe! your smartphone so you can track your progress. Tennis is a great sport, but not an easy one to master. A trainer is a good start to work on your skills, but what if your racquet could be your trainer? Enter the Babolat Play Pure Drive – a “connected” racquet that, when synced to your smartphone, will record various stats during your gameplay. It can tell the difference between a forehand, backhand, smash, or serve. It knows the type of spin for each stroke, and can even tell where the ball is making contact with the strings. After your game, you can review your data from your smartphone, and get advice on how to improve your game from the integrated app. You can even share your data with friends and compare stats. Why bother buying a watch or bracelet to track your daily activities and calories burned, when your shirt can do it for you?AiQ has developed BioMan – a set of smart clothing that features embedded sensors to keep track of your body vitals. The BioMan is able to track heart rate, respiration rate and skin temperature. That information can then be sent to a smartphone or other device wirelessly via Bluetooth. Embedded steel threads within the shirt provide the electrical conductivity that allows for vitals sensing. The Bioman shirt is different from other wearable monitors as the sensors are integrated into the garment so that the wearer doesn’t have to worry about misplacing it or forgetting to wear it. This technology has great potential for not only routine tracking of body vitals, but also to alert care centers in the event of unusual cardiovascular activity.