I’ve been wondering what an augmented reality HUD interface for runners would look like, so I went and tossed together this mock-up. Augmented Reality (AR) layers data on top of the existing world in real time. Science fiction authors have written extensively about it for decades and fighter pilots have been using HUD interfaces for years, so there’s nothing really unique about it. Also patents on this technology were made years ago in anticipation of it going mainstream in the near future. In the last couple of years this technology has been trickling down to the average consumer in the form of iPhone and Droid applications.
Being a tech nerd this would be another toy to play with. But there are some real benefits to this interface as well.
All the data from my runs, everything from heart rate to pace to cadence, is displayed and stored on my Garmin watch. I glance down at the watch roughly every quarter mile just to make sure I’m within certain training parameters. So about every 2 minutes I’m looking at the watch, and if I need to look at a different parameter, I have to push buttons as well. So out of convenience I want all the relevant data to be displayed at all times. When I get home, I load the data into a program that displays everything into graphs. This data can be manipulated and compared to other workout sessions. These features are great, but again, it would be nice to be able to do this in real time.
This is essentially Biofeedback. All functions deemed relevant to performance would be displayed in real time, allowing for a higher awareness and better control of these functions. This would increase performance levels much faster than when training without this real time input. For elite runners, this makes perfect sense. They have been using Biofeedback for years, but this AR version would bring it out of the lab/treadmills and out into the field.
I would suspect that Garmin and other tech companies are already working on this, so a product such as runners sun-glasses with embedded data is just a couple of years away. Shrinking it down into a pleasing form factor would be key. This would not be for everyone, but could be very useful for some.












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