History of Activity Trackers (From Pedometers to Fitbit)
Here is an infographic from Irwin’s Megastore, which further details the history of activity trackers.
Tracking and monitoring their body’s health and fitness metrics can help individuals get a sense of direction with their fitness journey and allow them to adjust their daily activities, including diet, to meet their goal of losing weight, building muscles, or getting a good night’s sleep.
To help people track their steps and calories burned and monitor heart rate variability, oxygen intake percentages, and sleep quality, they use activity trackers.
App-less wristbands and trackers were already popular among many health and fitness enthusiasts in the past years. Still, the release of more feature-packed fitness tracker Waterford devices in 2015 created an enormous demand for these wearables today.
Though modern activity trackers and smartwatches Waterford that also double as fitness trackers have dominated global sales in recent years, making it seem like the device’s components and its process of gathering biometric data sound as if they were revolutionary inventions, the concept, and technologies used in these wearables were actually introduced way before the 21st century.
In 1770, Swiss horologist and inventor Abraham-Louis Perrelet created the first pedometer. This instrument tracks the number of steps taken by an individual to estimate the distance traveled on foot. Consequently, seven years later, Thomas Jefferson, a Founding Father of America, used Perrelet’s design to produce a mechanical pedometer.
In 1921, the first machine with sensors was created. American psychologist William Moulton Marston created the prototype of a polygraph, which is famously known today as a lie detector, to measure a person’s galvanic skin response (GSR), pulse rate, and blood pressure.
In 1965, Dr. Yoshiro Hatano, a Japanese professor at the Kyushu University of Health and Welfare, invented the first modern pedometer to combat obesity in his country. He created a portable device that can be worn around the waist and track the number of steps an individual has taken. His invention was named Manpo-Kei, which translates to “10,000 steps meter” as he speculated that this number of steps with a proper balanced diet and exercise are enough to maintain a healthy body.
In 1971, Ford managed to use accelerometer technology for their commercial automobile products. At that time, accelerometers were generally utilized during the Space Race and the development of guided missile technology.
In 1982, Polar introduced Sports Tester PE2000, considered the forefather of all activity trackers, including watches for athletes. The watch is essentially a combination of an electrocardiogram (ECG) and a radio chest strap, allowing users to monitor their heart rate without connecting any wires to their bodies. And, two years later, Polar created Sports Tester PE3000, the first watch that displays live biometric information on a screen.
In 1996, the Global Positioning System (GPS) technology was opened up for civilian usage. GPS technology provides users with positioning, navigation, and timing (PNT) services. People can use GPS receiver equipment to calculate their three-dimensional position and time.
In 2006, Nokia introduced its 5500 Sport, the first consumer device to have a built-in accelerometer that measures movement and vibration on three different axes: front to back, up and down, and side-to-side, allowing users to track their physical activity accurately.
And in 2007, Fitbit co-founders James Park and Eric Friedman came up with the idea of using sensors in small wearable devices. They saw the potential of turning their idea into a business; years later, they were able to transform their hardware start-up company into a tech powerhouse. They have developed Fitbit Cork fitness tracking devices with more features to help users more effectively track their health and fitness and monitor their progress.
Here is an infographic from Irwin’s Megastore, which further details the history of activity trackers.