Diving deeper than just your regular fitness tracker
Those looking for a dedicated swimming tracker now have another option to consider, with Waterfi unveiling its first Swim Tracker.
The announcement comes after the company previously dabbled with waterproofing fitness trackers such as the Fitbit Alta, as well as iPods and even Amazon Kindle devices.
Read this: Big test – swimming trackers ranked and rated
However, it’s now set to provide its own dedicated offering, with the head-mounted Swim Tracker providing stats on laps, rests, distance, sets, calories, strokes, pace, and breaths – all while being controlled through the touch of one button.
“We realised that watches are fundamentally poor swim trackers because they only track one hand and not the rest of the body. A head mounted swim tracker greatly improved the quality, and scope of data collected during a swim. In addition to strokes and lengths, we can track direction and swim form,” said Waterfi founder Royce Nicholas.
So, instead of just an accelerometer on the wrist doing the legwork, Waterfi’s Swim Tracker uses a 9-axis inertial measuring unit that houses an accelerometer, magnetometer and gyroscope — essentially, similar tech to what you’d find in VR headsets. And the tracker can also store up to 60 swims and collect data for up to 13 hours of swimming on one charge, with users able to view their activity in the companion app once out the pool.
Curiously, this isn’t the first time we’ve seen a swimming tracker look to forego the usual wrist-based design and operate from the head, instead. We found the similarly-designed XMetrics Pro, while missing the mark with regard to accuracy, to be a stronger solution for pulling in detailed swimming metrics.
Ultimately, if Waterfi’s option can do what it says on the tin consistently, it could become a go-to option for swimmers looking for more insights into their sessions.
