Sports with health-related focus have boomed in the last decade. The popularity of sports like running, or going to the gym has seen an unprecedented rise in the 2010s. Recent sports and market research shows that technological gadgets are the main reason for that new trend. The availability of apps or smart watches that track user’s sport activity, motivate people to continue or even start following a fitness routine.
These devices are available for almost any individual and unstructured sport, including running, cycling and weight lifting. However, such devices don’t offer today an accurate way to measure swimming activity. This is unfortunate, given swimming is one of the very few “low impact” sports, placing minimal burden on joints, ligaments and bones. Yet, at the same time, it is a high-intensity full body workout.
With CHAZE we want to unleash the potential of swimming to make fitness and healthy exercise widely adopted. To do so, we are building a hand-wearable smart band. When a swimmer wears the band, the band’s sensors record the swimmer’s motion and pressure. This data allows our app to provide the swimmer with valuable feedback: An overview of the pace, distance, force and further metrics lets users check on their performance. A visualization and analysis of their stroke further lets them fine-tune their technique. The band should also help pro athletes to work on their technique and should help the rehabilitation process of people with bone or joint injuries, including osteoporosis patients.