AURORA, Colo. – May 18, 2011 – The University of Colorado and Physical Activity Innovations Inc. (PAI) have executed an exclusive license agreement allowing the company to commercialize a fitness feedback technology developed at the University. The technology is a small, Bluetooth-enabled sensor that allows users to wirelessly track time spent in daily physical activities, calories burned, and progress toward user fitness and weight-loss goals.
The technology was developed at the University of Colorado School of Medicine by Raymond Browning and James Hill, in collaboration with Edward Sazonov of Clarkson University and Yves Schutz of the University of Lausanne. The Fit Companion device is a small, unobtrusive device that may be mounted in any shoe; the device wirelessly transmits data to a cell phone where the user receives easy-to-understand information about their physical activity throughout the entire day. This feature creates a feedback system incorporating calories burned, body weight and physical activity, which can alert the wearer when time spent in sedentary activity exceeds a predetermined threshold, or when a daily physical activity goal has been met.
“When it comes to burning calories, a moderately active person can burn as many calories as a person who sits all day but then has a very vigorous workout,” says Dr. Browning, who serves as research co-lead at PAI. “Our goal is to provide people with feedback that motivates them to stay at least moderately active every day.” PAI received the Bluetooth Innovator of the Year award in the Bluetooth Innovation World Cup 2009.
“PAI is attacking the obesity epidemic head-on with innovative tools such as the Fit Companion,” added Paul Tabor of the University of Colorado Technology Transfer Office. “If the company can meet its goal of producing an accurate and comfortable device at a low cost, it will transform the monitoring of physical activity and have an immense impact on human health.”
About Physical Activity Innovations
Physical Activity Innovations Inc. is developing unique, footwear-based systems that motivate users to increase their daily physical activity. Technology in the footwear-based systems is based on research from Clarkson University, Colorado State University, and the University of Colorado. The company is funded by Phase I SBIR grants issued by the National Institutes of Health,1R43DK083229-01A1, and the National Science Foundation, IIP-1013575 . The company has been a member of the Rocky Mountain Innosphere , the Northern Colorado Technology Incubator, since 2009. The company is based in Fort Collins, Colo.. More information can be found at www.physicalactivityinnovations.com.
About the Technology Transfer Office and the University of Colorado:
The CU Technology Transfer Office (TTO) pursues, protects, packages, and licenses to business the intellectual property generated from research at CU. The TTO provides assistance to faculty, staff, and students, as well as to businesses looking to license or invest in CU technology. For more information about technology transfer at CU, visit www.cu.edu/techtransfer.
The University of Colorado is a premier teaching and research university with four campuses: the University of Colorado at Boulder, the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs, the University of Colorado Denver and the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus. More than 55,000 undergraduate and graduate students are pursuing academic degrees on CU campuses. CU is ranked seventh among public institutions in federal research expenditures in engineering and science by the National Science Foundation. Academic prestige is marked by the university’s four Nobel laureates, seven MacArthur “genius” Fellows, 18 alumni astronauts and 19 Rhodes Scholars. For more information, go to www.cu.edu.
