Software | Evolving Consumer

Microsoft Kinect Used to Help Visually Impaired Do Yoga

What is the woman in the photo above doing wrong? To those of us that don’t do yoga it looks like a typical yoga pose, but this is actually the incorrect Warrior II pose. For those who are visually impaired it might be hard to follow to visual cues when doing yoga. Now researchers at the University of Washington have developed a program, dubbed the Eyes-Free Yoga, which utilizes the Microsoft Kinect software to track body movements and provide auditory cues in real time for six popular yoga poses.

“My hope for this technology is for people who are blind or low-vision to be able to try it out, and help give a basic understanding of yoga in a more comfortable setting,” said project lead Kyle Rector, a UW doctoral student in computer science and engineering. Continue reading Microsoft Kinect Used to Help Visually Impaired Do Yoga

Wahoo Takes Strava Routes to Trainers

Winter is on the way and for those who will hit the stationary bikes soon that means riding in place, but now Wahoo Fitness will offer riders the chance to duplicate Strava segments on the KICKR stationary trainers. The Strava segments are section of real roads that riders can compete on via the Strava website and app along with a GPS device.

The app controls resistance on the KICKR to match the grade of the climbs and descents in each Strava segment. The KICKR is a rear-wheel-off trainer with a large flywheel to simulate real world riding conditions. Power is even measured at the rear hub.

There are nearly three million segments worldwide so that should really let riders mix it up this winter.

Wahoo Apps Official Website

Smart Money Bets on Wearable Devices

The smart money might be looking at the smart wearable device market, which could be worth $19 billion by 2018 according to a new study by Juniper Research. Revenues will be driven by high price points for these devices allied to their anticipated strong market demand.

The Smart Wearable Devices: Fitness, Healthcare, Entertainment & Enterprise: 2013-2108 forecasts that the emergence of a host of players competing against each other could drive the market, while competition is expected to intensify.

“It is worth observing that this change in adoption levels can also be attributable to heightened consumer awareness of wearable technology and a better visibility of product adoption, especially in the smart watch segment,” said report author Nitin Bhas.

Smart Wearable Devices: Fitness, Healthcare, Entertainment & Enterprise: 2013-2108 Report Website

Weekend Reading List (10.19.2013): Off Peak, Custom Ride, 3D Health

Off Peak

From BikeRadar: London tackles lorry danger with off peak delivery trials
Lorries – a frequent cause of serious and fatal injuries to commuter cyclists – could become scarcer in the London rush hour under plans to trial more early morning and night time deliveries. Continue reading Weekend Reading List (10.19.2013): Off Peak, Custom Ride, 3D Health

Nike Refuels

While Adidas announced this week that it was entering the smartwatch market, Nike also made big news with the unveiling of its second-generation version of the Fuelband.

The Nike+ Fuelband SE features small tweaks that promise to offer improved performance. The iOS app has been updated as well, but we are still waiting for an Android one to follow. As with the original model it will track the intensity of workouts, count steps, monitor sleep and display progress in real time.

You’ll be able to get refueled starting November 1.

Nike+ Fuelband SE Official Website

Build Your Ride

Sure you can map your ride, but Strava is now helping riders build their route. The Strava Route Builder allows users to leverage the data of the Strava community to discover and ride the most popular roads and paths across the world. This can allow riders to create routes in cities that they might not be familiar with, so this could include minimizing hills – to flatten your ride as needed.

It can also help rider determine how long the ride might take based on what other riders have done on the same streets, and the route can be exported to compatible GPS devices or as a printer-friendly cue sheet – both with turn-by-turn directions.

Strava Official Blog: Routes are Here!

Snap to It

Form is a big part of golf, and Dr. Jenni Martin MS DC LPGA Class A teacher and club professional could help players get more snap in their swing. She has long provided a three hour full Gapper Golf Swing analysis that has attracted players from around California, but now Martin is introducing a series of online fitness exercise clinics.

Martin’s passion is to help golfers, young and old, new and seasoned, high and low handicaps, fit and perhaps… not so fit. She sees that understanding an individual’s goals, physical needs, limitations, body, and swing is the only way to make permanent, goal-oriented, and effective swing changes and improvements. Martin’s method is thus designed to be fun, entertaining and informative.

The Golf Gapper is a comprehensive golf swing and body positioning analysis system. The use of State of the Art evaluation equipment provides a customized and easy to understand way to empower your golf game. Golf Gapper methods will immediately improve consistency, distance and overall swing as well as create body awareness within the physical abilities and goals of the golfer. Continue reading Snap to It

PUSH It and Then Some

Salt ‘n Peppa comes to mind when we say “Push it,” but fitness company PUSH could be joining the band – well not the hip hop trio of course. The PUSH Band is an app-enabled wearable fitness tracker that can provide in-training tracking as well as analyzing strength performance.

It utilizes scientifically-validated metrics to visualize an athlete’s training performance. The Band part communicates with a PUSH App and can plan workouts, optimize training routines, review collected data and share results. Post-workout it can breakdown the metrics and wallow you know what you accomplished, while also monitoring progress in real time to help reduce the risk of injury by “over doing it.”

Users can compare performance with others view the live view feature, which makes it possible for coaches and trainers to access performance results as well. Users will be able to “PUSH” themselves a bit further beginning next spring when the devices will be released.

PUSH Official Website

Researchers Look to Develop Concussion-Detection App

Researchers at the University of Notre Dame are looking to test an app on approximately 1,000 youth and high school football players. It isn’t to track their performance, but rather could provide a way to recognize concussions. The program reportedly pulls out the vowel segment from a set of predetermined words and then analyzes that sound for changes that may indicate a brain injury.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) now estimates that as many as 3.8 million sports-related concussions occur in the U.S. each year. However, because concussion can go undiagnosed, the true number of such injures could be much higher.

In many cases after taking a hard hit players are simply asked, “are you OK,” and now the researchers have looked to develop a test that could be not be swayed by answers from players look wanted to remain in the game. This builds on previous studies that have found that head injuries can change speech characteristics, with negative effects on vowel production being one factor that stands out.

This app could certainly help younger players stay safe and if necessary stay off the field after taking a hard hit.

[Via MIT Technology Review: Voice-Analyzing App Scans Football Players for Concussion]

Ready to Climax with ClimbAX

There are plenty of fitness monitors that can track heart rate and performance, but the ClimbAX is designed with climbers in mind. This system consists of two rubber-coated wristbands that contain an accelerometer, orientation sensor, altitude sensor, a NAND memory chip, and a 16-bit microprocessor.

This can help detect the orientation of the climber’s arms and track movement and even composure. The wearer can get information that is presented via four metrics that look at power, stability, control and speed. This can determine the strength that was used, the ability to transition between holds and even the total time it took during a climb.

Unlike many fitness trackers that provide real-time monitoring the idea with this one is for climbers to analyze their efforts after an ascent. Trying to look at one’s wrists while climbing wouldn’t be a good idea now would it?

ClimbAX Official Website

Stick Sensor

We’ve seen sensors make their way to all sorts of devices and the Quattriuum Team is looking to deliver the Powershot, the first performance sensor for hockey players via a Kickstarter project. The Powershot sensor, which is designed to attach to a hockey stick, can reportedly measure the puck speed, acceleration, shot speed, duration and angle of slapshots and snapshots.

The Powershot can further learn how the user plays and targets both strengths and weaknesses and follow progress over time while comparing performance to other players. It weighs only 50 grams and can store up to 1,000 shots – moreover it can sync with the FWD Powershot app for Android and iOS device. Video after the jump

Sigma ROX On

The Sigma ROX 10.0 will help you find your way on the bike. The company’s first GPS-enable bike computer supports ANT+ plus offers route guidance and navigation, in addition to speed, cadence, altitude and heart rate functions.

It features a 1.7-inch LCD display with a reported “super bright “backlight, plus the computer is compatible with ANT+ power meters for added training data. It also comes with Data Center 3 software that can be used to download and analyze ride data, create routes or share your rides on any site that uses .FIT or .GPX files.

The Li-ion battery is charged with a standard micro USB cable and promises 13-plus hours of use per charge.ROX on!

Sigma ROX 10.0 GPS Official Website

Interbike 2013: Pioneer Starts a Dual

Pioneer is looking to power up, or rather have cyclists get in the power know with its new power meter system and cyclocomputer, which made their debut at last week’s Interbike trade show. This new robust system is the first to ever achieve on-bike, real time, dual-leg pedaling power measurements and analysis that graphically illustrates left and right power output, as well as pedaling stroke efficiency, power loss, force vector analysis and torque.

The SGX-CA900 Cyclocomputer and SGY-PM900H79 Pedaling Monitor/Power Meter Sensor can track cadence and heart rate; GPS positioning, speed, distance and elevation gain/loss; and even barometric pressure and ambient temperature. The system is now available through KHS Bicycles, located in Rancho Dominguez, California, and QBP, located in Bloomington, Minnesota.

Video after the jump