News Main
Animals
Archaeology
Dinosaurs
Earth
History
Human Animal
Space
Tech

A Personal Trainer, in the Palm of Your Hand

Tracy Staedter, Discovery News

Chang and his team think that the system could be further enhanced by attaching radio frequency tags to the weights themselves. That information could be picked up by the sensors to determine how much weight is being lifted. In this way, the exerciser need only focus on the workout instead of its progress.

"The application itself is very interesting," said Jamie Ward, a researcher of human activity recognition at Lancaster University in Lancaster, England. "I believe you could make a product out of it."

But before that happens, he said, "There are a number challenges to overcome first."

For example, the sensors need battery power.

"It would be nice if the devices could be powered just from he movements themselves," said Ward. "Wristwatches can do that but they use a very small amount of power, and accelerometers use more power."

There is also the issue of privacy.

"If the environment is smart so that the objects are monitoring you, it obviously raises some privacy issues," said Ward.

It will be important to keep the information localized, he said.

Related Links:

Good form from the Mayo Clinic

The seven benefits of regular exercise

Tracy Staedter's blog: What the Tech?