Even the Old Jump Rope Is Getting a High Tech Makeover!
The jump rope may be the cheapest, most portable piece of cardio equipment invented.
Now it’s being reinvented for the wearable revolution.
The Smart Rope records your jumps and displays the number in front of you via a series of embedded LED lights. (Video: Tangram Factory)
The Smart Rope brings the humble jump rope into the digital age by adding multiple magnetic sensors in the handle that communicate with your smartphone via Bluetooth. That allows the rope to instantly record the number of rotations as you jump and track your progress over time.
Here’s the wow factor: The makers have embedded 23 LED lights into the rope itself, allowing the jump count to magically appear in mid-air while you’re in motion. This solves one of the biggest pain points of old-fashioned jump roping — the sheer act of keeping count as exhaustion sets in and your mind drifts to that burrito you’ve been craving. This feature is especially useful for those maniacal athletes who can rack up thousands of jumps in a session.
Tangram says the rope’s LED display works in bright light, too. (Photo: Tangram Factory)
The rope also tracks your calorie burn based on your body mass index and then displays this information through its LED display. Bummed out about that candy bar you wolfed down in between meetings? Watching the calories melt away in front of your eyes is a great motivator to keep going. You can even set a goal of, say, 500 calories burned and the rope will count down for you.
Of course, in the age of the selfie, what’s a workout without a humblebrag? Through an app, the Smart Rope lets post your monster jump counts and calories burned on Facebook.
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The rope is also a virtual coach. The device not only tracks your jumps, calorie count, workout time and speed, it also recommends goals and interval training suggestions on its “Smart Gym” app. In future iterations, you’ll see icons and emojis on the LED display that can be fun motivators. For instance, doing a “double under” (a popular maneuver with the Crossfit crowd) might prompt a thumbs-up sign.
The Smart Rope will sync with smartwatches from Apple and Pebble, as well as the Apple Health and Google Fit apps. (Photo: Tangram Factory)
“The idea is to make the workout more effective through technology,” says Joen Choe, North American president of Tangram, the Seoul-based design agency that’s developing the Smart Rope. “Our whole philosophy is that we don’t want people to work out differently, we just want them to work out smarter.”
Funded through a Kickstarter campaign that raised nearly $200,000 earlier this month, the Smart Rope sold for $60, but will probably retail closer to $70. The Kickstarter funds will allow the working prototype to go into mass production, with the first shipments expected around August.
The Smart Rope may be the sleekest jump rope on the market. (Photo: Tangram Factory)
Choe says the Smart Rope is the first in a series of connected devices that Tangram will tackle as part of its Smart Gym concept. For instance, “dumb” weights are begging to get the Smart Rope treatment because a lot of people lift weights, but many of them are doing it all wrong.
“The amount of weight is not nearly as important as the form that you’re using,” Choe says. “We are thinking of ways to use connected technology to correct your form. We really envision a hub for these connected devices to speak to each other.”
There have been other attempts to improve upon the jump rope, notably with another Kickstarter campaign for the Sophia rope. But the sleek Smart Rope benefits from Tangram’s track record of designing other smart devices. The company got its start as one of the lead design vendors for Samsung’s SmartTV experience.
Magnetic sensors in the handles communicate with the smartphone app. (Photo: Tangram Factory)
Choe acknowledges that some people won’t see the point of improving upon the timeless jump rope. After all, you can buy a decent one for less than $10. Is a smartphone-connected rope with LED lights even necessary?
“Everyone starts off doing jump rope because you know it’s a great workout,” he says. “The reason is that you don’t stick with it is because it gets boring. And you have no idea if you’re getting better or not. There’s no sense of progress. The Smart Rope fixes that — we’re making jump roping stickier. In the end, it has to be more useful. We don’t want to make the next Shake Weight.”
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