Training data format
You don’t need to read brilliantdays.com to find out that Apple and Nike launched a new line of products together – the Nike+iPod. As Kevin Lim writes on his site:
This is the revolution
I think this is the start of a revolution in the way people measure what their bodies do. Yes, there are already heart rate meters, pedometers etc. on the market. But the iPod is a cultural icon, something that everybody has. In my country Norway, I can easily count 20 iPods on the bus in the morning. Apple has sold millions and millions. This is the start of something big.
But – I can see a future where I want to use the data from different training devices together. To merge the data from a GPS, from a heart rate monitor, from an iPod+Nike. And maybe take it further: To use the devices that collect data (iPod+Nike, GPS, heart rate monitor) to control other devices: Game consoles, PCs and Macs.
And finally: All this data should be in a format that is easy to move: From the devices that collect them, to devices that are controlled by them, and to devices and applications that store them.
Three phases if you like: Collection. Use. Storing.
Collection
The new Nike+iPod Sport Kit is an example of a device that collects data. Itconsists of two parts, a sensor for the shoes and a receiver for the Nano. The sensor with will measure your steps and report them back to the Nano. Information on time, distance, calories burned and pace is stored on the Nano and displayed on the screen. You also get real-time audio feedback like “your average pace is 7:10″, “Three kilometers to go” and “You completed in 24 minutes and 4 seconds.” Brilliant! This will of course make running much more fun, and the audio feedback will work much better than having to watch the screen when running.
You can make special playlists for your workouts, and if you press the center button while running, the Nano plays your special “power song”, for that extra sprint or the steep hill.
Again, Apple proves that the secret is in the details. It’s simple and amazing at the same time. And it certainly is right in the face of everyone writing about “iPod killers” on their sites every day.
Heart rate
The Nike+iPod Sport Kit does not contain a heart rate monitor. Apple used Lance Armstrong on the iPod+Nike press conference. I know that Lance, like most other top athletes, use a heart rate monitor when training. There are several brands out there, but Finnish Polar is a market leader, with products for lots of different sports: Running, cycling, outdoor, weight management etc.
If I have data on time, distance, pace and calories burned, I would also like to know my heart rate. It makes training much more efficient and you don’t run too hard (like many of us tend to do when we finally drag ourselves away from the computer). Now, Nike already has a whole range of heart rate monitors
“Nike+iPod creates a better running experience. We see many more such Nike+ innovations in the future.”
Nike CEO Mark Parker at the iPod+Nike press conference. I’ll eat this webpage if there isn’t a iPod-ready heart rate monitor from Nike within a year.
Steps vs GPS
The sensor inside +Nike shoes senses when you make a step. I would think that it simply sends “a step count” back to the Nano. This is how most pedometers
But with a GPS, you can take as funny steps as you like. The GPS will know precisely how far you have run, no matter the length of your steps.
The Garmin Forerunner 305 (buy from Amazon
Or?
Different devices, different data
Wouldn’t it be so much better if all these devices talked to each other? Buy a Nano from Apple, a pair of shoes from Nike, a heart rate monitor and GPS from Garmin, or a heart rate monitor from Polar. And they all sing together.
And when you go to a gym that uses the Technogym Wellness System, your gadgets pick up the data from the machines at the gym. And when you leave, your Nano knows how much you lifted, pulled, pushed and ran. And your heart rate.
You come home, and sync your iPod. Since the data is in a common format for training, you decide yourself which site you want to load up your data to: Nike, Garmin, Polar (all these have webbased services for training data for their gadgets). Or any other site that uses the common format for training.
From real world to virtual world
The final step is to merge this with the wonderful world of gaming. Since all machines now use a common format, it’s no problem for the Xbox 360, the PS3 or the Wii to make use of your gadgets or your data. You can bring out your dance mat and start dancing. The Xbox or the iPod keeps track of your exercise. Grab the Wii controller and start playing tennis in your living room. The iPod still keeps track of your movements. And when you meet your tennis instructor the next day, you can log on to the site you use for your data and have a look at your progress together.
And when it’s raining cats and dogs, and even an iPod full of your favourite tunes can’t pull you out of the warmth of your apartment, you step up on the treadmill, turn on your Xbox or PS3, and start running in the streets of Sydney from PGR, the hills surrounding Hogwart, or the upper decks of Titanic. All rendered in beautiful 3D on your new 42″ LCD screen in front of you.
While running, two of your friends come online too, and you race each other until Ross in Melbourne wins, but you manage to squeeze ahead of Kevin from Buffalo.
A new dataformat for training data
I’m quite sure Apple (or Nike, Garmin, Polar, Microsoft, Sony or Nintendo) will never make an open standard training data unless they really have to. So we better start making it ourselves. And start pushing them to open things up when we have a dataformat that is useful, versatile and ready to be implemented.
How do we do it? Anyone?
Previously on Brilliantdays.com
Computerized gyms
Running and training online
More Africa in your computer
Use your body to control the computer
If you enjoyed this post, please consider to leave a comment or subscribe to the feed and get future articles delivered to your feed reader.
FYI the sensor in the shoe is more than a step counter. It is a micro chip that can detect acceleration and time so if you take longer steps or shorter one it knows and sends the info to the nano. It is really cool.
Thanks, MJT. That’s interesting. I can’t figure out how that sensor can calculate how long my steps are. Does it really do that? How does it do it? Links?
“I’ll eat this webpage if there isn’t a iPod-ready heart rate monitor from Nike within a year. ”
Have we heard anything yet about this next, logical product evolution?
No we haven’t.
(prints page, searches spice rack…)
What are the best brands of pedometer on the market?:’~