Epson Enters Sports Tech Sector

Epson has revealed its latest offering in wearable technology that sees the brand entering the sport and health & wellbeing sectors – launching a series of new products in its first steps into the two growing markets.

As part of the launch, the company has revealed two new ranges – Runsense, GPS sports monitors, and Pulsense, heart rate and activity monitors – that boast market-leading technology.

Mark Reynolds, consumer director at Epson UK, explained the move: ‘Wearables has been one of the hot topics of the consumer electronics industry for some time and consumers are increasingly demanding products that they can wear to enhance their everyday lives. It is important that Epson innovates and moves with these exciting times. Devices that monitor a person’s activity are growing in popularity and we see great future potential in this market that is predicted to be over worth $100m in EMEA this year.’

‘Since we first began developing optical heart rate sensing products in Japan, we have been able to refine and minimise the technology to create a range of products that can outperform and offer more benefits than those currently on the market. Through our rich manufacturing heritage, we have developed a truly unique proposition that will contribute to the long-term success of Epson.’

With Pulsense, Epson combines data from a unique optical heart rate sensor and accelerometer to accurately measure both, 24 hours a day.

The optical sensor, which measures tiny changes in light reflecting through the skin as blood passes through the vessels, allows the Pulsense devices to measure heart rate – tracking calories burned, sleep quality and exercise across five heart rate zones. Users can also use the sleep phase alarm to wake them up at the right time and track how their state of mind affects heart rate.

For runners, Epson has developed a new, long battery life GPS sports monitor that allows wearers to analyse, manage, compare and share performance data.

To improve accuracy, Epson has developed an intelligent smart stride sensor for Runsense, which precisely measures stride length and pitch while learning individual running techniques. The power and frequency of body and arm oscillation is analysed and calibrated with GPS distance data using a unique algorithm. If GPS becomes weak during exercise, this technology is used to replace the missing data, delivering accurate pace and distance measurements.

The brand is now 50 years on from its revolutionary timing milestone at the Olympic Games – where it developed the world’s first printing timer.

Epson’s Pulsense will be launched with the PS-100 and PS-500, while Runsense will include four products – the SF-310, SF-510,SF-710 and SF-810. Both ranges will be available in the UK, France and Germany from September 2014.

Epson is an official partner of the Bloomberg Square Mile Relay, taking place in London tomorrow, for more information visit www.squaremilerelay.com