A monitoring and display technology could help athletes optimise their training regimes without the need for conventional, bulky strap-on sensors and wrist displays.
Instead, the competitor wears a spectacle form-factor display incorporating everything required to monitor and display key biometric parameters and training targets in real time. The goggles are suitable for swimmers and the smart spectacles suit distance runners and cyclists.
Developed by UK firm Cambridge Consultants and given the working name “Technospecs”, the device is said to exploit sophisticated sensors that measure core parameters such as heart rate and blood oxygen levels and then deliver this data to the Technospecs. These are essentially a compact form of the head-up displays originally developed for jet fighter pilots and more recently employed in certain prestige car models where travel information is projected onto the windscreen.
The enabling technology behind the Technospecs includes the miniaturisation of optical and sensory electronics; mechanical engineering to optimise the positioning and stability of the sensors, electronics and battery; and signal-processing techniques to produce reliable measurements from a moving, sweating athlete.
The company says it is currently in discussions with companies in the sports industry regarding transferring the technology to commercial products. The technology could also be extended outside of sport into, for example, the safety-critical monitoring domain. This could include blood oxygen level monitoring for mountaineers, skydivers and pilots at high altitude.