Fitness and technology have always been inseparable. We are always trying to find new, fun, and effective ways to improve our health. The folks at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) know this better than anyone. Every year thousands flock to CES to be the first to experience the latest technology. Sometimes you get to be one of the first to try a new Garmin GPS watch or the latest in personal audio. Or, as is most often the case, you get hands-on experience with a gadget that may not make it to market but inspires a better idea in the future.
At Holabird, keeping up with the latest in sports technology helps us stay on top of shifting trends and consumer demands. Some of the hottest tech featured at past shows eventually found their way to our warehouse:
CES 2018 Innovation Awards Honnoree: Jaybird Tarah Pro earbuds
CES 2017 Innovation Awards Honoree: Garmin Fenix 5s
Runner's World Best of CES 2017 Winner: Suunto Spartan Wrist HR
We couldn’t make it to Vegas for CES 2019, but we’ve kept our ears to the ground and picked out a few products that we found awesome, interesting, or just flat-out weird.
GOLFZON Tennispot
We’ve seen our share of simulators over the years. Companies are always trying to perfect the at-home version of the sports and activities we love. This year, GOLFZON introduced new simulators for tennis, golf, and baseball. Obviously, the Tennispot caught our eye. It looks like someone built a green screen around a ball machine, but there is a bit more to the package. Tennispot can virtually plot the trajectory of your ball to let you know if you are in or out of bounds. It can also read the speed of your delivery and adjust its pitch-back speed and direction to keep you guessing.
Something like this would look nice in our retail space to give customers a new way to try out racquets.
Suunto Movesense
One of the coolest things about technology is that it offers infinite ways to make our lives easier. Movesense is a motion-sensing technology created by Suunto that was originally used in their smartwatches. However, Suunto realized that if this technology was to reach its full potential, it had to be made available to others in the industry. In a bold move they designated Movesense for open development and this allowed other companies to find new ways to utilize the technology. Your kindergarten teacher was right: Sharing is good. There were a few interesting applications of the Movesense at the 2019 show including Konect Sport, which incorporates a three-dimensional motion senor to measure form, reaction time, and speed. Data can be stored and reviewed over time to analyze an athlete’s progression.
DFree
Healthcare and technology go together like doctors and stethoscopes. DFree uses ultrasound to measure the amount of fluid in your bladder and it sends you an alert when it is full. As older generations are living longer, we’re seeing tech companies focus on what can be done to help make life easier for the elderly. Sound like a silly idea? Well, DFree (meaning: diaper free) won the award for best Digital Health and Fitness product.
I guess you can say they came in… number one.