Adidas has partnered with Interactive Health Technologies (IHT), which offers a health tracking system designed specifically for grade school physical education (PE) courses, to launch Zone, a wristworn activity and heart rate tracking device.
Zone is a durable activity tracking device that monitors a student’s heart rate throughout the day. A display on the device’s screen allows users to see their heart rate. The device also sends the data to IHT’s system, called the IHT Spirit System. From there, PE teachers are able to view students’ activity and heart rates to figure out which children need extra attention to reach their target heart rate. The IHT Spirit System also includes curriculum and assessment management.
"In working with IHT, we found a partner that shared our vision of inspiring the next generation to lead healthy lives by making sport and fitness a life-long pursuit,” Adidas VP and General Manager of Digital Sports Stacey Burr said in a statement. “We’re firm believers that healthy habits are easier to keep the earlier you start, so introducing tools and resources at the school-level offered the perfect place to lay such an important foundation.”
Adidas first announced its partnership with IHT at last year’s Consumer Electronics Show, in January 2015. During the 2015 school year, according to IHT, 600,000 children were enrolled in the IHT Spirit System. The company aims to reach one million students nationwide by the end of 2016.
Schools are able to start preordering the device today, but the device will be available at part of the program beginning in August or September.
Last year, in August, Adidas acquired Austrian fitness app and device company Runtastic for $240 million (220 million euros). At the time, Runtastic had more than 140 million downloads and 70 million registered users.
Adidas also offers its own line of products, which include the miCoach Fit Smart watch, the MiCoach Smart Ball, as well as tools for tracking and supporting whole professional sports teams. Other Adidas products, including the XCell activity tracking device and the sports-tracking Speed Cell have been taken off of Adidas’ online store.
