Name: Glowfaster Smart Jacket
Location: Southampton, UK
Link: Kickstarter
Website: Glowfaster.com
Kickstarter End Date: March 17
Current Pledge: £2,500 of £35,000 (UK)
We are all about safety here at Run Oregon. During the cold months (and even sometimes the warm ones) rain splattering on windshields, coupled with darkness leads to bad results for runners.
At Run Oregon, we are also about “results” – whatever those may be for you. If that’s training for a 5k, a 10k, a marathon, a specific race, or just training to get off the couch, we are supportive of your training plan. A new Kickstarter project, the Glowfaster Smart Jacket, is attempting to fuse both.
This project, based out of the UK and designed by an ex-Royal Marine Commando. Here is some of the details pulled from their campaign:
Starting with a simple light up jacket to make a more exciting and safer experience of running, especially at dusk… and then… once enjoying this experience we simply could not stop. We found a way to control the lights from a distance of up to 30 metres opening up the opportunity for fitness games using flashing lights and colours as signals. Then we set about setting up and App to allow the lights to respond to speed measured by GPS and even heart rate measured form a heart rate monitor.
Our App allows Bluetooth control to activate the jacket and the monitor, and adjust settings using an iPhone. Set up for a target speed or heart rate can be achieved and this allowed the fantastic experience of intuitive motivational technology to allow users to respond to biofeedback.
Basically, you attach a heart rate monitor to yourself and program (via iPhone app), your desired heart rate. Instead of needing to continue to check your rate, the jacket will detect it and provide a series of flashing to let you know that you are ahead, behind, or right on target. Same goes with a GPS tracker through the app. It’s like a mini-game with yourself while you are out running!
The cost for buying in is £45 (or about $75), but may go up if more people buy in to fund.
