Fort Collins, Colorado - February 9, 2010. 

Physical Activity Innovations today accepted the 2009 Bluetooth Innovation World Cup award from the Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG) for its research on the Fit Companion, a physical activity monitoring device. The award was accepted by Dr. Edward Sazonov, Vice President of Engineering, at an award ceremony that took place in Munich, Germany in conjunction with the Wearable Technologies Conference and ispo, the world’s largest trade fair for sporting goods.  The competition drew more than 250 entries from developers around the globe.    

The Fit Companion is a small, unobtrusive device mounted on any shoe that helps individuals achieve healthy levels of physical activity.

The device accurately tracks exercise as well as typical activities like walking and daily chores. By providing feedback on active time and energy expenditure, the Fit Companion will assist individuals in making the small lifestyle changes that lead to increased physical activity and better health.

The device includes sensors attached to regular shoes which wirelessly transmit data to a cell phone.  On the cell phone, the user receives easy-to-understand information about their physical activity throughout the entire day: 

•  Time spent in different postures and activities (e.g. sitting, walking, cycling, etc.)
• Calories burned
• Real-time biofeedback to boost metabolism: “you’ve been sitting too long – time to get up and take at least 100 steps”

"When it comes to burning calories, a moderately active person can burn as many calories as a person who sits all day but then has a very vigorous workout", says Dr. Sazonov.  "Our goal is to keep people motivated to be at least moderately active every day". 

About Physical Activity Innovations

Physical Activity Innovations, LLC is developing unique, footwear-based systems that motivate users to increase their daily physical activity.   

Technology in the footwear-based systems is based on research from Clarkson University, Colorado State University, and the University of Colorado Denver.  The company is funded by a Phase I SBIR grant issued by the National Institutes of Health.  The company has been a member of the Rocky Mountain Innovation Initiative (RMI²), the Northern Colorado Technology Incubator, since 2009.  Headquarters are based in Fort Collins, Colorado, USA.

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