“If a runner didn’t turn on their Garmin, did they actually run?”
We all love our smart watches and wearables. They have become essential tools to track our workouts and guide our training. With every new release these magical tools come with ever more precise sensors and broader spectrum of sensing technologies. But as I’ve recently found out there is more to these devices than just personal health activity tracking.
As part of my marketing consulting endeavors, I’ve recently been working with a company that helps scientists take full advantage of the power that wearable devices have to offer to health research. The company is called Labfront and it provides a platform that helps collect more granular bio feedback data from the devices, track research study participants, and crunch the data for analysis by the researchers. It has been really enlightening and worth sharing just how wide spread the application of these devices is in the research world.
The graphic below summarizes just some of the studies where Garmin wearables and other similar devices can play a role to help push science forward:
So the next time you check your watch to see if your heart is still beating, think about the powerful little super computer and what it can contribute to help our humanity move forward.