Review of the iSportWeaR: A Gadget for Exercise and Health Monitoring | All You Need to Know About This Wealth-Health Management Glasses

During CES 2023, ITRI showcased noteworthy technologies in the sports and fitness field. One standout is iSportWeaR, a wearable gadget tracking body data and offering health insights while exercising.

Another innovation in sync with iSportWeaR is the Digital Twin for Sport Guidance with Vital Sign Sensing, recognized as the world’s initial virtual coach for indoor bike and flywheel training. It utilizes contactless detection tech to gauge and guide breathing, biomechanics, and coordination.

In this article today, we will focus on what the iSportWeaR is all about. Is it worth the hype? Is it really a smart personal health management solution for fitness and sporting enthusiasts? How does it work?

Moving on.

Key Facts:

1. Launch Year: iSportWeaR was introduced by the Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI) during CES 2023.

2. Technology: It uses non-contact low-power radar to track heart rate, breathing, and activity in real time.

3. Integration: The compact module can be embedded into sunglasses, bike handles, or other sports accessories.

4. Health Benefits: iSportWeaR helps prevent sports injuries by alerting users to abnormal health conditions such as heat exhaustion.

5. Digital Twin Sync: It works in tandem with the Digital Twin for Sport Guidance, the world’s first virtual coach for indoor cycling, using motion tracking and thermal sensing for real-time guidance.

About the iSportWeaR 

In 2023, the Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI) introduced iSportWeaR, a smart health management solution for fitness enthusiasts.

This radar-powered technology, using non-contact low-power radar, can be added to items like sunglasses and bike handles for real-time monitoring of users’ health. 

It accurately tracks heart rate, breathing rate, and activity details, aiding athletes in understanding their well-being during activities like running and cycling.

The data is stored in a personal database for users to review at any time.

iSportWeaR also contributes to preventing sports injuries by sending alerts to users’ smartphones when it detects abnormal health conditions, assisting in avoiding issues like heat exhaustion.

Its use in bike handle grips is a pioneering move in the current market, offering a breakthrough in health-monitoring solutions for cycling. ITRI collaborated with a prominent bicycle brand to develop iSportWeaR, intending to incorporate this technology into various innovative cycling product designs.

The compact iSportWeaR module easily integrates into different sports accessories, eliminating the need for skin-contact sensors. It works seamlessly despite sweat or gloves, indoors or outdoors, in various temperatures (41 to 122 degrees Fahrenheit or 5 to 50 degrees Celsius) and humidity levels (10 to 90%). 

Using Bluetooth Low Energy, iSportWeaR communicates signals with a measurement range for heartbeats (48 to 240 bpm) and respiration rates (6 to 60 bpm).

 Watch the video below to learn more about iSportWeaR:

What about the Digital Twin for Sport Guidance with Vital Sign Sensing which is in Sync with the iSportWeaR?

The world’s first virtual coach for indoor bike and flywheel training, known as the Digital Twin for Sport Guidance with Vital Sign Sensing, employs contactless detection technology and big data analytics.

This system offers advice on breathing, biomechanics, and coordination. 

Using thermal sensing, it measures respiratory rate, and a depth camera captures skeletal imaging and motion tracking, examining movements in the back, shoulders, elbows, arms, hips, and knees through images.

The collected data is then compared with world-class cyclists’ statistics, providing real-time professional-level suggestions on breathing adjustment, motion strength, and body coordination. 

This enhances users’ training experience and progress. Notably, there’s no need for monitoring wearables, allowing users to concentrate on realistic road condition simulations, thereby improving training effectiveness. ITRI collaborated with renowned bicycle manufacturers to develop potent solutions for training athletes using the Digital Twin for Sport Guidance with Vital Sign Sensing.

What Other Sports and Fitness Technologies did ITRI showcased?

1. iMetaWeaR: ITRI presented some extra sports and fitness technologies, like iMetaWeaR, a clever clothing tech that gives haptic feedback through multi-position electrical stimulation. This enhances the metaverse experience for users engaged in virtual sports such as boxing and fencing. The fabric-based electrodes are dry, washable, and integrated into somatosensory garments, doing away with the need for sticky electrodes. With its elastic feature and custom design, it offers top comfort, and the robust control mode enables varied stimulation in an immersive environment.
2. The Athletic Armband for Contactless EMG Detection: They also showcased the Athletic Armband for Contactless EMG Detection, which is a capacitive electromyography (EMG) athletic armband. It continuously measures electric signals from muscles in real time without direct skin contact. This armband proves handy in professional training by gauging muscle strength and providing insights on muscle activation sequence, fatigue levels, and injury alerts through a user-friendly app. The wearable design incorporates flexible hybrid electronics (FHE) and redistribution layer (RDL) technologies, with a sensing distance of up to 0.3 mm.

Alright, that is all there is on iSportWear for now. I hope we have given you the info you needed on iSportWear.

References (Authoritative sources):

1. Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI). “iSportWeaR: Smart Health Management Solution.” ITRI, 2023. https://www.itri.org.tw

2. Consumer Technology Association. “CES 2023 Innovation Awards.” CES Tech, 2023. https://www.ces.tech

3. TechRadar. “CES 2023: The Biggest Health and Fitness Tech Reveals.” TechRadar, 2023. https://www.techradar.com

4. Taiwan Today. “ITRI Showcases Breakthrough Fitness Technologies.” Taiwan Today, 2023. https://taiwantoday.tw

5. IEEE Spectrum. “Contactless Vital Sign Sensing in Sports Technology.” IEEE Spectrum, 2023. https://spectrum.ieee.org