FORM Unveils Smart Swim Goggles with Integrated AR

While Google Glasses never really took off in the wearables market, they certainly spurned many others into ideas with wearables for the eyes, be it sunglasses or eyewear meant specifically for businesses.

FORM has unveiled a completely new concept for smartglasses: smart swim goggles that have AR integrated into the leans and that carry a tiny computer built within that tracks metrics.

FORM Smart Swim Goggles

These smart swim goggles will make seeing underwater activity more engaging. Wearers will be able to maintain good swimming form while also tracking their fitness while they swim.

Sure, you don’t have to opt to buy this gadget and can just wear your Fitbit or Apple Watch, but if you wear one of those while swimming, you need to either pause your activity or change your technique to check how well you’re doing. But you won’t have to with FORM

“The idea of 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,” said FORM founder Dan Eisenhardt. His previous AR eyewear company, Recon Instruments, was bought out by Intel four years ago.

Wearing the FORM smart swim goggles, swimmers and coaches are able to be alert to what’s taking place in the water as the goggles start tracking from the first stroke, while autodetecting rests the swimmer takes.

The metrics it records include calories burned, distance traveled, split time, and stroke rate. The data floats in the lens in the swimmer’s line of sight. Users have the ability to choose which metrics are displayed on the lens and when they will appear.

“When I took the goggles to the pool the first time, I had a bit of a snooty, elite swimmer mentality, thinking this is going to be a bit much,” said former Olympic swimmer and current FORM Director of Strategic Partnerships, Scott Dickens.

He added that he was pleased when he realized the goggles weren’t obstructing anything. “When I put them on, it felt like a regular pair of goggles. It doesn’t add any resistance or slow you down,” reported Dickens.

The goggles can be used by professional swimmers or by amateurs who just want to be more connected to their swimming experience. They support a sixteen-hour battery and automatically categorize your swimming activity in a mobile app after you leave the pool.

Availability

The FORM smart swim goggles will sell for only $199, and the app will launch on Apple’s App Store and the Google Play Store when the eyewear starts shipping internationally on August 7.

Are you a swimming enthusiast? Can you see keeping track of your swim activities via the FORM smart swim goggles and accompanying app? Tell us your thoughts in the comments below.

Image Credit: FORM