Partnership delivers sports data to smartglasses
Two European technology companies, Suunto and Activelook announced their partnership at MWC this week. Finnish sports watch manufacturer, Suunto has opened its API (application programming interface) to connect to the Activelook technology, developed by Activelook, the augmented reality (AR) division of French company MicroOLED. The partnership connects the watches to what is claimed to be the world’s lightest AR eyewear.
ActiveLook is an embedded head-up display technology that fits into sleek, lightweight frames and lenses. Its miniaturised and invisible AR technology displays essential performance data without obstructing the field of vision, says the company. A smart chip integrated into the eyewear projects data to a discrete near-eye display that “melts” into the optics. It gives access in real time to whatever data is monitored by athletes as they train or compete. Data provided can be distance covered, the elapsed time, their speed, pace, or heartbeat, for example.
The real time data not only motivates the athlete to safely push their boundaries, but also adapts to any sport practiced at any level: barometric altitude, route navigation or sport-specific maps, for example, while providing an overview of key indicators (distance, speed, heart rate, cadence).
Boosted by sensors, the smart watch works as the central calculation unit gathering all the key data needed by the athlete. The smartglasses send the data to the athlete, ensuring a simple, discrete and intuitive visuals access to performance.
For outdoor sports, whether in the wilderness, on a forest trail or group training, the data is automatically projected on the near-eye display. This saves time and allows the athlete to focus on practice and experience without having to make any additional gesture to access data.
It also makes the journey safer. Alerts are sent to the athlete to allow them to adapt their practice, equipment and effort to gain in performance, skill and safety.
A prototype, functioning on the Suunto 9 Peak and able to work with any eyewear integrating Activelook’s technology can be seen MWC 2022 (28 February to 03 March) Hall 7 7E23
