University of Calgary launches wearable tech module as direct for graduates explodes

As a executive of a University of Calgary’s Running Injury Clinic, Reed Ferber beheld something approach behind in 2009.

“Runners were regulating wearable record — a Nike chip was a initial form of wearable technology. They were not going on their runs if they forgot their device during home,” Ferber said. 

“So [I realized] these inclination are changing poise of these athletes.”

Close to a decade later, Ferber suggested Monday a University of Calgary has perceived appropriation from a sovereign supervision in a form of a Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) CREATE extend to sight 80 connoisseur students over a subsequent 6 years to spin experts in a margin of wearable record — which has exploded into a multi-billion dollar industry.

“We’re articulate about Fitbit, and Garmin and Apple Watch — and large companies that are popping adult roughly on a daily basis,” he said.

“They need well-trained graduates who know information science, know a technology, know a entrepreneurial side of wearable record — and that’s what a [U of C’s] training module is all about: mixing those 3 programs together: information science, kinesiology and entrepreneurship in sequence to rise a subsequent era of wearable record experts.”

Ferber will work with a series of other researchers from opposite a university campus to assistance sight students, he said.

“I’m heading a group of 10 other researchers from opposite campus, from engineering, to a expertise of science, nursing, where we’re bringing together a unequivocally integrated group — we have information scholarship experts, information visualization experts, kinesiology and biomechanical experts and engineering experts, all brought together [under one program],” he said.

Wearable record creates opportunities for scientists to simply collect information in genuine universe settings, pronounced kinesiology tyro Teague Foreman. (Riley Brandt)

From opening metrics to health care

While wearable record now is best famous for counting to 10,000 steps, Ferber sees it relocating to new uses in entrance years.

“The unequivocally singular focus is going to be in a area of health caring and damage reconstruction and prevention: how can we use a elementary device to assistance somebody forestall an damage or rehabilitate from medicine or from an injury?

“That’s unequivocally where a margin is going to spin to in a subsequent four to five years.”

Recruiting from around a globe

The initial class, recruited from a accumulation of disciplines, starts this fall.

“They’re entrance from New Zealand and Iran and Canada — all over a place,” he said.

“We’re possibly recruiting information scientists and training them in kinesiology, or kinesiologists and training them in information science, and we’re training them all in entrepreneurship.”

Among those students is Teague Foreman, a kinesiology vital in biomechanics.

She pronounced one of a best facilities of wearable record is that it changes a diversion when it comes to entertainment data.

“There’s a lot of eventuality to collect a lot of data, in real-world settings, not only in a laboratory,” she said, that differs from a bulk of her experience, entertainment information in self-contained laboratory settings.

“Working with wearables is going to turn me out as a intensity worker impossibly well. we have a lot knowledge in lab settings … though given wearables are a future, it will give me a good stepping mill to be hired by industry.”

Industry interest

Ferber pronounced a biggest problem might be convincing students to finish school.

“We now have 24 companies — Canadian and general — that are concerned in this new NSERC CREATE program, and they’re looking for us to partisan these students, start training and afterwards they’ll take them for internships ranging from one to four months, in sequence to help to confederate into their programs — and potentially sinecure them.

“The biggest problem we indeed face is these companies are so fervent to have these students, we need them to lapse from these internships to finish their studies.”

On Sept. 9, during a University of Calgary’s alumni weekend, Ferber will horde an eventuality explaining a advantages of regulating wearable record to support healthy living. He’ll be assimilated by Hal Johnson and Joanne McLeod of a Amazing Race Canada and Body Break, who will share some tips for formulating healthy habits.

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With files from Dave Gilson

Article source: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/wearable-technology-university-calgary-1.4801159?cmp=rss