This is a BRAND NEW Polar/Adidas Integrated System

[Shaolin Temple]

It's crazy expensive though. But it's definitely very interesting and they just started to market it now.

The Integrated System Includes:

RS800SD and S3 Stride Sensors (Footpod) (http://www.heartratemonitor.co.uk/polar-rs800sd.html)
adiStar Fusion (http://www.shopadidas.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2434921&shopGroup=R&cp&keywords=polar&y=0&searchId=17947783061&x=0&parentPage=search&colorId=)
adiStar Fusion Shirt (http://www.shopadidas.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2249941&shopGroup=R&cp&keywords=polar+wearlink&y=0&searchId=17949094151&x=0&parentPage=search&colorId=)

And you get this (http://www.thefinalsprint.com/2006/10/press-release-adidas-polar-introduce-the-world%E2%80%99s-first-completely-integrated-training-system/)


Peep this site:
http://www.adidas-polar.com/phase4/index.html

[elle simple]

a related article in the NY Times, I'll paste since it requires registration

November 1, 2006
Innovations
These Shoes Are Made for Talking

By MATT VILLANO
IT was a cold and foggy afternoon the first time that Ulrike Krotscheck’s Nike running shoes spoke to her.

Ms. Krotscheck, a graduate student in classics at Stanford University, was jogging through Golden Gate Park in San Francisco, and after about 40 minutes of running, she wanted to see how far she had run.

So she pushed a button on her iPod Nano. The device instantly sent a wireless electronic request to a battery-powered sensor in the sole of her left shoe. The sensor responded immediately, dispatching the information in a digital voice through her iPod: 5.2 miles.

Ms. Krotscheck could hardly believe her earbuds.

“I had gotten used to calculating distances in my head,” she said. “The fact that my sneakers were doing it for me was pretty amazing.”

Shoes like these might be the future of fitness. In the cutthroat shoe manufacturing industry, two companies in particular — Nike and Adidas — are banking on sensors and other technology to pump up profits and change the notions of high-performance footwear forever.

In the last 12 months, both manufacturers have introduced footwear that communicates wirelessly with other technology to provide information about a run. The Nike shoe, called Nike Plus, delivers data on distance and pace. The Adidas product, called adiStar Fusion, offers the same information as well as data about heart rate. This is Adidas’s second venture into high-tech sneakers. Last year, the company introduced the Adidas 1, a shoe that uses a battery-powered sensor to identify terrain and analyze a runner’s gait, then uses a motor-driven cable system to adjust the cushion levels. If a runner is on a dirt trail that suddenly gets muddy, the heel firms up. If the runner switches to asphalt, the heel expands.

Michael Gartenberg, vice president and research director for Jupiter Research, a market research firm in New York, said that while these products were more likely to be popular among technophiles than runners, they should attract interest from all sorts of customers during the holiday season.


“This isn’t technology for technology’s sake,” said Mr. Gartenberg, who specializes in personal technology. “It’s technology that truly does enhance the running experience, and I think that’s something customers will respond to.”

Each of the latest high-tech sneakers works differently. The Nike Plus grew out of a partnership with Apple, and works in conjunction with the iPod Nano.

The system was introduced in May and revolves around the Nike Plus iPod Sport Kit, which is a microchip sensor and receiver. The runner places a quarter-size sensor inside a built-in pocket in the sole of the shoe and attaches a receiver to the bottom of the iPod. Once the sensor is calibrated, the receiver enables the iPod to communicate with the sensor in the shoe.

During a run, the sensor collects data on speed and distance. When the runner wants this information, the chip transmits it to the iPod, which interrupts the music to announce a report in a computerized voice.

The iPod stores the data, and when a runner docks the device at home, Apple’s iTunes software automatically uploads workout information to the Nikeplus.com Web site. Trevor Edwards, Nike’s vice president for global brand and category management, said that this feature enabled runners to chart their workouts.

“Most people these days are running with iPods anyway, so this seemed like the perfect way to get the most out of the technology,” Mr. Edwards said. The system may also help strengthen Nike’s bond with its customers. “With everything from capturing the data to putting it online, this system enables us to connect with our customers like never before,” he said.

The adiStar Fusion achieves a similar result. The shoe, unveiled in October, came about from a partnership with Polar Electro, a Finnish company known for its heart-rate monitors.

Like Nike Plus, the Adidas system requires the user to place a microchip in the sole of a shoe. This chip, called the S3 Stride Sensor, made by Polar, transmits speed and distance data to a device called the Polar RS800sd Running Computer, which is worn like a wristwatch.

Another device is a heart monitor called the Polar WearLink WIND, which incorporates data about pulse. Runners can clip this sensor to a Polar chest strap, or they can buy a special adiStar Fusion shirt, which works with the sensor to collect heart-rate readings from tiny electrodes sewn into the garment’s material.

The RS800sd computer compiles all the data and displays it in easy-to-read statistics on the wristwatch. Christian DiBenedetto, program director for intelligent products at Adidas, said that while the information was not delivered in audio, the data about heart rate can help runners in other ways.

“With this feedback during a run, you can better understand your body’s performance to give yourself a great opportunity for accomplishing your personal best,” Mr. DiBenedetto said.

Neither system is cheap. The Nike Plus system runs about $300: $100 for the Air Moire or Air Zoom shoes; $29 for the Nike Plus iPod Sport Kit; and $149 for an iPod Nano. The Adidas system costs about $700: $120 for the adiStar Fusion shoe; $65 for the adiStar Fusion shirt; and $489 for the Polar sensor, heart monitor and the running computer.

Another drawback of these sneakers is that they are available only in styles that have soles equipped with spots for the sensors. Generally, these shoes have average cushioning and little to no arch support.

Gary Muhrcke, who owns Super Runner’s Shop in Huntington, N.Y., said that this was a problem because every person’s foot is different. Some people need more cushioning, others need more support. Mr. Muhrcke said that wearing the wrong shoes could cause major injury.

“Sneakers are not one style fits all,” he said. “If you’re a runner with wide feet and you’ve been running in the same shoes for years, there’s no way you’re going to cram your feet into one of these shoes just to get some information off a computer.”

Enterprising runners have found ways around this problem. Cindi Raykovich, a co-owner of Sound Sports, a running store in Seattle, said her customers have used the Nike sensor by wearing the technology in a Shoe Pocket, a small walletlike pouch that can be attached to shoelaces.

A Nike salesman frowned on this. During a recent visit to a NikeTown store in San Francisco, the salesman said that using the sensor with any other product could affect the readouts’ accuracy. The Polar S3 Stride Sensor comes with a hook to be laced on to just about any shoe.

Still, the two manufacturers see room for improvements. Mr. Edwards, the Nike vice president, said his company expected to make more shoes compatible with Nike Plus in the months ahead. Mr. DiBenedetto said that Adidas planned to make half its products compatible with Polar technology by 2010.

“We see this as the future,” Mr. DiBenedetto said. “Just as the industry accepted midsoles in the 1970s, so, too, will we accept this kind of technology down the road.”

++++++++++

Interesting as it is, I'm too much of a beginner (not to mention a broke-ass lol) for this ish, but I'm going to get a Polar HRM for Xmas, I heard... also learned that Polar is a Finnish company *waves flag*

[Shaolin Temple]

The adiStar Fusion is better than the iPod system, and probably far more expensive.

[elle simple]

Neither system is cheap. The Nike Plus system runs about $300: $100 for the Air Moire or Air Zoom shoes; $29 for the Nike Plus iPod Sport Kit; and $149 for an iPod Nano. The Adidas system costs about $700: $120 for the adiStar Fusion shoe; $65 for the adiStar Fusion shirt; and $489 for the Polar sensor, heart monitor and the running computer.


yup

the Nike one doesnt monitor heart rate tho

other interesting points in the article:

- the shoes fitted for these gizmos may not be right for you

- these products are more likely to appeal to techie type people than a serious runner (presumably b/c they already have the shoes and equipment that works for them?)


Did you get one Shaolin?

[Shaolin Temple]

yup
the Nike one doesnt monitor heart rate tho
other interesting points in the article:
- the shoes fitted for these gizmos may not be right for you
- these products are more likely to appeal to techie type people than a serious runner (presumably b/c they already have the shoes and equipment that works for them?)
Did you get one Shaolin?

Nah, I am not about to spend a ridiculous amount of money on a HRM ($490). I upgraded to the F6, which is $100, after I had the basic Polar HRM, but I used Amex points. I spend $165 on running shoes, which I absolutely love. I spend enough as it is on fitness stuff, but I will not go this far. lol!!! I will say this though, being an engineer by discipline (although I gave that up), I love innovative ideas that materialize like this.