Tag: fitness bands

These gadgets were designed to help to better understand the eating habits of these mysterious creatures.

A new cool wearable technology study is now underway through researchers from James Cook University (JCU) who will be using the devices to help to better understand the eating habits of sharks.

The scuba diving scientists will be adding special wearables to the tails of the underwater predators.

The researchers scuba dived north east of Cairns on Osprey Reef, where there were special cages filled with tuna heads that were designed to lure the sharks into the area. Those sharks were then lassoed around their tails and fitted with special cool wearable technology. The devices included microcomputers that are comparable to the fitness trackers that have become exceptionally commonplace among consumers.

This cool wearable technology keeps track of the sharks in a similar way to how fitness bands track humans.

One of the lead researchers in the study, Richard Fitzpatrick, explained that these new wearables make it possible to avoid the old technique of having to wrangle sharks back to the boats in order to have to implant other forms of trackers. He said that “With these [microcomputers] we’re able to put them on the shark underwater and then let them go again.”

Fitzpatrick pointed out that “We’re trying to minimize stress to the sharks, do it as quickly as possible so then they return back to normal behavior as quickly as possible and we get better data.” He was also among the researchers who were able to head back to the site and collect the wearables two weeks after they were initially placed on the sharks.

Though it was somewhat challenging to be able to catch the same sharks that had the cool wearable technology, instead of being able to catch any shark and fit it with a device, they were able to successfully do so and gather the data collected by the wearables. This provided the research with significant information about the impact of tourism operators who were feeding the sharks and the way this altered the natural energy consumption of those ocean creatures.

According to Valencell, there will soon be a day when wearables are commonplace but we’re not there, yet.

Performance biometric tech firm, Valencell, has recently stated that while the industry is headed toward a time when it will be difficult to imagine our lives without wearable technology, we have not yet reached that point and there are some very specific reasons to explain that.

The success of the Fitbit IPO, and the sales recorded by the Apple Watch are showing that wearables are growing.

Valencell has explained that while consumers are interested in wearable technology at the moment, these gadgets have not yet reached the point in which they are providing health feedback with the accuracy that they are seeking. This statement was made in a report made by the company based on a study conducted by their team with a focus on wrist wearables. What the team determined was that the PerformTek biometric tech that their company produced was able to deliver heart rate data when worn on the wrist to a degree that it was comparable to the readings collected by way of a chest strap.

The wearable technology research also indicated that the Apple Watch was not able to meet that goal.

The researchers found that the Apple Watch was particularly incapable of collecting accurate heart rate feedback during physical activity.

While it is important to note that this research that praises the PerformTek biometric technology was conducted by Valencell’s own team, meaning that it is more than likely that biases – deliberate or completely unintentional – could be present, this study does raise a very important point with regards to the accuracy of biometric information that is being collected by way of mobile devices.

Previous studies have indicated that many medical professionals and organizations are not yet comfortable recommending the use of wearables for the collection of fitness and medical data simply because they have not yet been adequately studied in order to know whether or not their feedback should be considered to be satisfactory as a basis for making medical or fitness recommendations.

Until the reliability of wearable technology biometric data can be improved and proven, it is likely that this factor will continue to hold back its adoption among the general public.