Nike is not just about shoes and athletic apparel as is evident with its recent patent. The company is also into technology especially those that help its athlete clientele perform better in their chosen fields.
The multinational corporation is bent on helping athletes and their teams by finding ways to track or measure their "athletic movement and activity." Nike is pinning its hopes of doing that on a newly granted patent that is titled "monitoring fitness using a mobile device". The patent was filed on Oct. 24, 2016, and was granted last Feb. 9 of this year. Nike, the applicant, named the inventors as Michael T. Hoffman, Kwamina Crankson, Jason Nims, Michael L. Orenstein, and Kristen L. White.
According to the patent, its main purpose is to motivate people to become physically fit by maintaining a regular exercise program. Nike, however, pointed out that this is no easy task as it is difficult to stay motivated while doing repetitive motions and routines. The fact that workout information needs to be manually input or that tracking progress can become too complicated can also affect one's motivation to workout.
Hot Hardware describes the Nike patent as a device that can track the vitals of the player. The wireless vitals tracker is supposed to be placed within the shoe of the athlete. Bluetooth Low Energy or BLE devices then connect the wireless contraption to a computer which processes the data collected. A GUI is then utilized to display the data and help coaches and trainers monitor the players in real-time.
Nike is not new to incorporating technology in their products. It has released a smartwatch before that keeps track of the runner's vitals and performance while also helping the users organize their run schedules and other features. The company collaborated with Apple in releasing the Apple Watch Nike+ late last year. Another recent use of technology in one of Nike's products is the self-lacing Nike sneakers reminiscent of the one worn by Michael J. Fox's character in the "Back to the Future" film.
