As technology is constantly developing, so does the fitness industry. Technological developments ranging from health and fitness apps and virtual workout class to activity tracking wearables have enabled us to track and access our health data everywhere, anywhere.
One of the rising trends in recent years has been wearables. More specifically, smartwatches and fitness trackers, which are dominated by following companies: Fitbit, Xiaomi, and Apple, respectively as of 2018 (Statista 2018). These leading tech companies might very soon face their less techy but very innovative apparel and shoe competitors such as Adidas AG and Under Armour.
Advancements in technologies will bring more personalization into the fitness industry than ever before. For the sake of this post, I will mention 3 patents from the article ‘The Future of Fitness’ (2018) that, in my opinion, will profoundly change the way we monitor our health.
1. Full-Body Fitness Monitoring System: patented by Adidas
Currently, sensors are attached to tracking devices. Adidas went beyond devices and acquired a patent to embed these sensors directly to clothing that allows for full body monitoring.
2. Self-Charging Smart Shoes: patented by Adidas
Another initiative by Adidas includes a solution to the wearables’ problem of charging. The company acquired a patent that allows it to build a sensor inside shoes that counts a person’s speed and steps.
3. Restaurant Nutrition Tracker: patented by Under Armour
With this patent, Under Armour would like to improve the accuracy of nutrition tracking. It has a potential to store accurate nutritional data of menu options and food items at restaurants based on GPS locations. The device should also suggest food places to meet nutrition targets.
These findings made me wonder: If self-charging smart shoes or the full-body fitness monitoring system become a success, will Adidas go after Fitbit? If Under Armour will improve nutrition tracking, should MyFitnessPal start worrying?
What do you think?
Sources:
https://www.statista.com/statistics/435944/quarterly-wearables-shipments-worldwide-market-share-by-vendor/
https://www.puregym.com/future-of-fitness/
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