Sports technology company Form Athletica Inc. today announced the upcoming launch of waterproof goggles that use a transparent augmented reality display to keep performance metrics in view for swimmers.

AR has been tapped as a way to provide heads-up displays and information for users hands-free with wearable devices or through handheld mobile devices. Ruggedized devices for industrial use are becoming more common for manufacturing floors and other environments, and on Aug. 7 the list will include swimming pools.

According to Form, swimming is one of the largest sports in the world, with more than 30 million active pool swimmers in the U.S. alone. Already, on land, consumers have had access to performance metrics in real time through wearable devices such as running watches and bike computers. These devices have certainly changed how runners, cyclists and triathletes train.

However, in pools, swimmers have been frustrated with current wearables, which are cumbersome, impair technique and are generally difficult to access in real time. With the Form Swim Goggles, the company seeks to correct this problem.

“I swam competitively for 14 years and really felt the pain of not being able to access my metrics in real time,” said Form founder and Chief Executive Dan Eisenhardt. “The idea for Form came about many years ago, but we are only now entering a time when technology lets us deliver this experience seamlessly in a premium pair of swim goggles.”

The goggles, which will cost $199, were developed over a period of four years in collaboration with top competitive swimmers and coaches, including former Olympians, with an eye for noninvasive form factor and a user interface that best delivers performance information without degrading experience.

In order to do this, the Form Swim Goggles seamlessly integrate a see-through goggle lens so the swimmers can still see where they’re going and a miniaturized onboard computer with 16 hours of battery life, all built into a sleek form factor designed to provide optimal fit, durability and hydrodynamics.

“I competed in two Olympic Games: 2004 and 2012,” said Scott Dickens, director of strategic partnerships at Form. “At the elite level, everything is measured down to the hundredth of a second. Having access to real-time metrics in your goggles is an absolute game-changer.”

Like most wearable devices, the goggles come with a companion app, the Form Swim App, which will be available for iOS and Android devices in the app’s respective app stores. 

The app will enable swimmers to review their performance from previous workouts and share data. This lets swimmers and coaches see developing trends, approach goals and better set expectations for current and future workouts based on information gathered by the devices during swim sessions.

The app also allows swimmers to customize which metrics are displayed in the goggles in real time and when each metric appears, such as after turns or during rest.

“Form enables both swimmers and coaches to be more in tune with what’s happening in the moment,” said Dickens. “Even if you’re not a high-level swimmer, Form makes swimming much more engaging and just plain fun. You always know exactly what you’re doing, and you’re able to compete with yourself while you swim.”

AR has seen a lot of different uses over the years with the development of wearable goggles — such as the Microsoft HoloLens and Magic Leap One — but most are not waterproof. For other uses, AR is delivered through mobile devices with cameras and displays, such as smartphones and tablets. Both of these forms have seen industrial use for workers, allowing object recognition technology and holograms to provide extra information on warehouse floors.

Companies such as Upskill and Scope AR have also delivered AR solutions designed for enterprise environments that put AR to use to make the lives of workers easier and give them quicker access to experts and expert information.

For consumers, AR has been used to make advertisements come to life, such as Aurasma’s product and Google LLC’s AR mapping feature. Then there’s gaming, such as the extremely popular Pokemon Go game series that puts creatures in the world for mobile phone users to collect and trade. The game has been so popular that it crossed a billion downloads in September 2018.

For sports enthusiasts, the waterproof form factor of Form’s goggles adds an entire new potential audience for the use of AR that could be built out for other uses and combined with existing workout and health apps.

Photo: Form