Pedometer

Among other things, Einstein’s theory of special relativity says that as an object’s velocity increases, time as experienced by the object will slow down when compared to another object traveling at a lower velocity. This means that a 'relatively' short round trip on a space ship traveling at close to the speed of light would see you arrive home having aged less than those back on Earth. While the greater the velocities involved, the greater the effect, the theory applies to all relative movement. Now there’s an iPhone app that will let you know just how many extra nanoseconds you’ve gained by getting moving as opposed to sitting on your rear end. Read More

As children get chubbier and chubbier, finding ways of motivating them to exercise becomes more and more important. Rich and Sheri Schmelzer and Alexandra O'Leary have taken the approach of creating their GeoPalz pedometers, that record how far children walk, so they can then redeem their miles for free prizes and awards on the company’s website. As anyone who spent their childhood proudly working their way up the YM/YWCA’s hierarchy of sew-on swimming crests will tell you ... it’s not a bad idea. Read More

Abraham-Louis Perrelet began working on an automatic watch winding mechanism in 1770 (the year Captain Cook “discovered” Australia). By 1777, he’d perfected the invention and founded the House of Perrelet watches the same year. His success in harvesting energy from the wearer led to his next invention, the pedometer, and he subsequently went on to manufacture a range of firsts in the watch industry. Innovation still underpins the company, and Perrelet patented its Double Rotor (one on the dial side, one on the movement side) in 1995. Now it has put them on show with its TURBINE XL watch, enabling caffeine-addicted, ADHD-suffering freaks (guilty) to amuse themselves for hours. Don’t believe me? See inside. Read More

Fitbit is an activity monitor which conveniently clips to pants, shirt or wristband and pays careful attention to what you are doing. It counts your steps, records distance traveled and tells you how many calories you've burned. When you're not being active it'll record data on how long it takes you to fall asleep, how many times during the night you awoke and how much sleep you actually managed to get. Go within a few feet of its base station and it will automatically upload the data to a website for subsequent detailed analysis and storage. Read More

Putting some science behind the original cardiovascular exercise is the Oregon Scientific Pedometer. Capable of measuring the number of steps taken, the distance walked and time elapsed, the Pedometer is small, light and clips onto clothing easily and securely. At $79.95 the Pedometer includes an auto-tuning FM radio. Confirmed walkers amongst us loved it, as it measured their exercise regime for the first time. Available at Retravision, Telstra shops and David Jones. Read More