The Ethical Role Of Wearable Technology In Sports

Park and Friedman were able to ship around 5,000 units with a further 20,000 orders on the books. Park and Friedman raised more money for their product from Brad Field and teamed up with Best Buy. Fitbit products are now found in 650 Best Buys and thousands of retail stores worldwide. The first tracker was reviewed as “pretty good”. In 2011 Fitbit was improved by adding an altimeter, digital clock and a stopwatch. In 2012 Fitbit One and Fitbit Zip were the first wireless fitness trackers to use Bluetooth 4.0/ Bluetooth Smart. This model allowed people to sync their Fitbit with IOS and Android as well as the Fitbit website. In 2013 Fitbit created a wearable bracelet: Fitbit Flex. Although the product was not entirely successful. The wristband was irritating people’s skin due to the nickel in the product. This resulted in a recall in 2014 and the irritating factor can still be a problem in some of their products today.

Consumers are becoming health conscious and Fitbit’s is certainly in the right direction to help them with the wellness progress. However, given the fact Apple products crushed many companies and its iWatch is a key competitor for Fitbit Inc. when it comes to wearable products. Garmin also comes with GPS technology that certainly adds more values to its wearables.

According to Free SWOT Analysis, Fitbit is a San Francisco established wearable device corporation who leads the way in connected health/fitness marketplace in 2007 asserting their device’s assistance individuals become more energetic, increase exercise, sleep improved, and control their weight. They have sold over 20.8 million devices as of March 31, 2015 and held a 68% share of the United States market by dollars in 2014, bragging users including the President of the United States. (Free SWOT Analysis, 2015)

In this era, smart phones are now becoming an attachment of the human body that is needed to sustain “life”. People are starting to use smart devices to videotape themselves doing a certain aspect of sports and analyzing it further. The phones can do slow motion and look into the fine tuning details. Instead of approaching a coach, one can compare the captured video to that of a professional in that sport (Hout). Along with video capabilities, smart phones contain a copious amount of apps that can provide work out regimens and diets to follow to ensure the best fitness. Some of the latest devices even have a step counter built into them. Cell phones, along with social media, also have a huge influence on current fan base. The average person can follow a professional athlete on any social media of their choosing. This makes the fans feel more involved. “NASCAR is developing a “digital cockpit” that includes onboard telemetry and in-race social media interaction between fans and drivers” (#6). Being so connected with the athlete through social media encourages deeper fan engagement. With everything being so accessible through technology, it allows for sponsorships and sales which connects to a previously discussed area. Since the majority of the population owns a smart phone, the skill level and the local professional team pride of the average athlete can be amplified just from being

There are a wide range of wearable technology that is being used in the workforce today. There is wearable technology used for jobs in military purposes, space interaction, firefighters and police officers. I recently read a very interesting article by, Courtney Howard titled, “Widespread use of wearable technology.” “It is

"Ace(R) Survey Examines Impact Of Wearable Activity Devices On The Fitness Industry." NASDAQ OMX 's News Release Distribution Channel 3 Sept. 2015. ProQuest. Web. 23 Sept. 2015

lead to complicated and costly administrative and medical follow-up to ascertain whether drugs taken by athletes are legitimate therapeutic agents or illicit. Furthermore, legalization of doping, we believe, would encourage more sensible, informed use of drugs in amateur sport, leading to an overall decline in the rate of health problems associated with doping. Finally, by allowing medically supervised doping, the drugs used could be assessed for a clearer view of what is dangerous and what is not... Acknowledging the importance of rules in sports, which might include the prohibition of doping, is, in itself, not problematic. However, a problem arises when the application of these rules is beset with diminishing returns: escalating costs and questionable effectiveness." Bengt Kayser, MD, PhD Professor of Exercise Physiology, Faculty of Medicine of the University of Geneva Alexandre Mauron, PhD Professor of Bioethics, Faculty of Medicine of the University of Geneva Andy Miah, PhD Reader in New Media and Bioethics at the School of Media, Language, and Music at the University of the West of Scotland "Viewpoint:

Football is beginning to realize just how helpful this new technology could be. New technologies geared toward the specificities of the game of football and player health are now being used and tested. Several new startup companies have not only tested and captured the professional sports market they have also entered the college sports market. “Catapult is a tracking device, attached to a thin harness that fits snugly underneath the shoulder pads. It tracks a player’s heart rate and movements, producing daily data reports coaches can use to better structure practices and keep players healthy.” (Sports Venue Tech). This new piece of technology may give players the initiative to train harder in order to improve their numbers, but tracking player’s speed, workload, and wellness is key to running a healthy and hardworking team. Florida State University’s own Coach Jimbo Fisher, in an interview with Sports Venue Tech, stated; “How we train with that thing year-round has allowed us to take out a lot of the guesswork of how tired the team is. Your pulls, your tears – our soft-tissue injuries are down 88 percent in the last two years, since we’ve been able to apply that,” … adding that the data printouts are “the first thing [I see] every day … I live by that thing.” Sports analytics is

The new multi Billion wearable computing market has been driven by smart fitness bracelets and the Kickstarter-funded Pebble smart watch. These two categories are quickly merging into one larger market: smart wristwear. Samsung Electronics, Motorola and LG along with other companies have all launched smart watches which has unfortunately fell short of expectations and didn’t meet the initial hype. Apple’s Smart watch is set to launch, and expected to be successful despite the less successful launch of the first market entrances. Apple has designed its watch with several points of differences they hope to meet consumers’ needs that will set it apart from all competition.

Fitness trackers, activity trackers or a so-called fitness bracelet , for example from Garmin , Fitbit or Jawbone are the trend. These are devices that capture a variety of measurements of the human body and reflect the physical activity of the body. Depending on the model, you can, among other things , measure and analyze information about sleep, nutrition, health and physical activity . But in the end, almost all fitness trackers help you to live a healthier lifestyle.

Wearable technology has grown in impetus with the introduction of smart watches by Apple and Samsung.

Furthermore, Fitbit sales are going down since the second launch of the Apple smartwatch. Consequently, many Fitbit consumers started to purchase them. Some liked the Apple smartwatch, some went back to using Fitbit again and some decided not to buy the Apple smartwatch, because of its price and instead went with Fitbit. As a result, Fitbit manager should plan for a brand trial and retrial for those people who switched to Apple

The wearable device market is one that is very broad with a vast amount of opportunities for businesses. The potential markets for these products are health,

In the area of fitness and wellness there are so many wearable products are available. Here we are discussing various products that are available in the fitness and wellness application.

Wearable technology has been around since the 70’s and continues to shrink in size while growing in functionality. This burgeoning technology is used in clothes, the medical field, for fitness/health applications and as fashion accessories. Now that smart phone innovation has slowed, the technology world is looking for a new gadget to put their interest and money into. Wearable technology could be the answer. One specific piece of wearable technology has enjoyed a recent spike in interest from technology enthusiasts. The smart watch is poised to become the next technological giant like the smartphone and tablet computer before it. Before renowned companies like Apple and Samsung entered the market in 2015, the smart watch market grew from simple calculator watches in the 70’s to what is essentially a wrist computer. The newest smart watches are beginning to encroach on the many desirable features found in smartphones such as text messaging, email, and other applications. Despite the growing list of features and even advantages these watches have over smart phones, they’re not selling well. Within the next ten years smart watches will fade into obscurity; never becoming the ubiquitous technology some have envisioned them to be.