Kicking off our coverage of CES 2013, Medgadget was invited to a rapid-fire press conference of nearly 50 companies announcing health and fitness related devices and products. There’s certainly a lot of innovation going on in the health and fitness industry. Here are some of the notable announcements:
Our friends at Fitbit presented the Fitbit Flex, an activity tracking wristband that measures your steps, calories, and distance. It also has sleep tracking capabilities with a silent alarm. What sets the Flex apart from the competition, according to Fitbit, is that it’s the first fitness tracking wristband to use low-energy Bluetooth 4.0.
Tennessee Titans quarterback Matt Hasselbeck took the stage on behalf of MC10, best known as the company behind flexible electronics, to announce and demo a new sensor-laden skullcap called the Check Light Head and Back Indicator to help measure and detect dangerous hits to the head. It’s thin and lightweight so it can be worn on its own or under an athletic helmet.
Interaxon showed off Muse, a brainwave-sensing headband designed to help you improve your mental and emotional health. Muse will also let you play simple games and perform certain gestures with just your thoughts.
Editor Scott’s personal favorite, Aftershokz, announced the Bluez Bluetooth model of their popular headphones that use bone conduction technology. Bone conduction provides the benefit of leaving your ears open to stay aware of your environment, and it also bypasses the eardrum, helping to preserve your hearing.
During last year’s CES, we wrote about Valencell, a company that is incorporating sensor technology into earbuds. Today, they announced the iRiver ON, a pair of iRiver earbuds and the first with Valencell’s PerformTek technology. The iRiver ON is able to measure heart rate, distance, speed, cadence, VO2 max (aerobic fitness level) and calories burned with just a single earbud.
Stay tuned as we’ll be taking a closer look of many of these products this week on the floor!