In the past, both athletes and consumers had to pay pretty extravagant fees for coaching and personal training. Thanks to the fitness wearable revolution, however, technical guidance and mental motivation are now incredibly accessible; financially, physically, and technically. There’s a new fitness wearable on Kickstarter called, STEPP, and it’s claiming to be the most advanced real-time running coach.
By just clipping on a few sensors to a few key places, the metrics measured by the device are fairly comprehensive. In addition to speed and distance the device also tracks: foot contact angle, impact force on ankle, vertical movement, running balance, foot contact time, hip tilt, stride length, and much more. To gather information, the STEPP fitness wearable uses several 9-axis water-resistent motion sensors while Bluetooth connectivity enables information to be synced with user smartphones. The device’s estimated battery life is over six hours, and wireless charging also is supported.
According to the campaign, STEPP is engineered for essentially anyone involved with the sport; casual runners, event runners, and coaches. Below is a brief overview of the features for each type of user. For casual runners, the fitness wearable system can be leveraged for real-time technique analysis to help avoid potential injury, limb strength and overall stamina training, and proper warm-up and cool-down.
The more seasoned runners, the system can be used to analyze important data points like contact angle and contact-fly ration, review detailed post-run summary metrics, and share performance data with coaches. Coaches can, of course, benefit from being able to monitor their athletes remotely, eliminating distance or scheduling as an ongoing obstacle.
So far, VST Technology, the company managing the STEPP Kickstarter campaign, has raised almost half of their $70,000 goal with just a month to go. Pricing for the STEPP starts at $99 for one device which is 50% off the planned retail price. The estimated shipping date is July 2017. Each STEPP pre-order comes with three STEPP sensor bodies, two shoe sleeves, one belt clip, and one charging case.
