Running is a brilliantly simple and effective way to get fit. It takes less time than you would spend commuting to your gym and you can experience the goodness that only a stress – relieving workout can bring about. However simple it might sound, running is not easy.
Most of us get a coach for whichever form of exercise we choose – from weightlifting to pranayama. But, as far as running is concerned, we assume we don’t need a coach for we’ve been running since childhood. But, if the technique is wrong, it will eventually cause you chronic pain that will force you to give it up.
The market is ready for a tech solution, and Sensoria has come up with a concept that can detect and improve your running technique. The makers raised $100,000 in crowdfunding and another $5 million in investment.
The device, priced at $199, is an anklet attached to a special running sock. It coaches you with real-time analysis of their foot-striking position and stride.
The Sensoria is a horseshoe anklet that attaches to a special sock via five brass knuckle-like magnets stitched near the lower shin area. Special sensors in the bottom of the sock measure where the foot makes contact with the ground and for how long. The anklet, which contains a CPU that analyses data from the sensors, is extremely light. It's discreet enough to go unnoticed on the streets unless a stranger is looking close enough at your feet to see a small hump in the sock.
The best part of this wearable is its accompanying smartphone app. This app provides you with a detailed heat map of where your foot is placing the pressure, in addition to detailed statistics on foot contact time, cadence, steps taken, stride length, and speed (Sensoria also makes a shirt with an embedded heart-rate monitor, which works in tandem with its software).
All these statistics can seem overwhelming to even those who love data. Thus, Sensoria will interact with you through an automated coaching assistant that will give you simplified advice whenever it detects that your form is getting poor. For example, if you lower your pace, or are running at irregular pace, it will tell you to “Pick up the pace!” in your ear.
Sensoria takes a neutral attitude to the debates raging in the running community on what should the proper form be, and it appeases marathon runners and newbie joggers alike. By default it asks novice runners to land on the ball of the foot (also known as “forefoot striking”). Expert runners can switch to heel striking and also precisely narrow in on their choice per minute.
Sensoria not only excites us by what it can do right now, but also by the potential presented to the next wave of wearables to transform the way people train. Many runners take running up haphazardly and ignore the wisdom of experts that has been built over decades.
As more smart clothing becomes technique-aware, amateurs will instantly be connected to cutting-edge science in an app that packages advice into simple real-time advice.
Buy the device from http://www.sensoriafitness.com
