i3 - March/April 2016 - 23

WATER WORLD:

HOW LIFEFUELS IS BUILDING A
BETTER BOTTLE
Plastic water bottles have become a serious environmental issue, but
companies like LifeFuels are finding smarter ways to stay hydrated.
Winner of a CES Innovation Award, LifeFuels has introduced a new
water bottle that's not only reusable, but also keeps track of how
much water is consumed while storing supplements and flavors in
unique FuelPods.
Five FuelPods can be stored in a bottle at one time, and can be
dispensed into water at the push of a button.
The experience is recorded simply by syncing
with a smartphone to track hydration, as well as
vitamin and supplement intake. The bottle itself
is equipped with an innovative touchscreen that
reminds users to drink, stay hydrated and nourished with necessary vitamins. The experience not
only cuts back on plastic waste, but also encourages users to become more connected to their
health.
"LifeFuels wants to change the way people manage nutrition," says Jonathon Perrelli, co-founder
and CEO of LifeFuels. "We developed the Smart
Nutrition Bottle to make it easier for consumers
to accomplish their nutrition goals by connecting
what they're already familiar with: a water bottle, a
smartphone and nutritional products."

sensor button is pressed or automatically detects a fall," he explains, "it
can check on the wearer, and send a message with the wearer's location
to a pre-programed number of caretakers who can assist."
Similarly, Bluetooth is also an important component of the Owlet, a
device designed to monitor infants. "We've taken hospital technology
(essentially pulse oximetry) and made it appropriate for the home," says
Owlet CEO Jane Putnam. "Most people probably know it as the little red
light they clip on your finger in the hospital to monitor your heart rate
or oxygen. We've miniaturized this technology into a baby sock that your
little one wears to bed at night, and it's designed to alert you if your baby
stops breathing."
Through remote monitoring, a parent or caregiver can access a child's
vitals like heart rate and oxygen, on a smartphone whether that user is
down the hall, across town or around the world. Owlet is compatible
with iOS devices running iOS 8 or higher (including iPhone, iPod Touch
and iPad) with an Android version coming in June.
"One thing that is really cool is that while you can access the live
vitals on your phone, we understand your battery can die or Wi-Fi can
go down," says Putnam. "However, we've designed the monitor to work
independently of a smartphone or Wi-Fi. The Smart Sock connects to
the Base Station via Bluetooth low energy, so those two will connect
regardless of your phone or Wi-Fi."
C TA . t e c h / i 3

graphic tk

JUST FOR KICKS:

UNDER ARMOUR'S
FIRST SMART SHOE

Since it launched in 1996 in Baltimore by
former University of Maryland football player
Kevin Plank with the dream of building a
better t-shirt, Under Armour has become a
popular brand among amateur and professional athletes alike. Starting out with a stylish
shirt that helped regulate temperature, technology was in the company's DNA from the
very beginning. That's why UA's trajectory into
developing high-tech gear is a natural, highly
innovative one and why Plank was brought
on stage during CES at Intel's keynote.
UA's first-ever smart shoe was introduced
to do one thing: build a better runner. The
SpeedForm Gemini 2 RE, which is equipped
with sensors and microchips, not only tracks
and stores everything from time and date,
to duration, distance and splits, but does
it automatically. There is no start or stop
button; when the shoes are worn, they're
always ready for action and always tracking
progress.
"The SpeedForm Gemini 2 RE allows you to
have a truly untethered running experience,"
explains Amanda Kim, company spokesperson. "It collects performance data and
insights without having to run with a tracking
device. All you have to do is simply put on the
shoes and run."
The shoe even tracks its own life span and
sends a notification when it's time for a new
pair after roughly 450 miles logged, which
Kim says is critical for preventing injuries. The
data from the old pair will live on in the user's
next pair of shoes. "All of the data is synced
through a MapMyRun account," she says, "a
premium subscription that comes with the
purchase of the shoes."

MARCH/APRIL 2016

https://www.lifefuels.co/ https://www.underarmour.com/ http://www.owletcare.com/ http://www.CTA.tech/i3

i3 - March/April 2016

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