Social Fabric Fitness

Quick Info

Project Date Nov. 20, 2012 - May 1, 2014
PIs: Jon E. Froehlich (PI)
Keywords: wearables, wearable displays, e-textiles, personal informatics, running, sports, health, fitness

News

Join us at the Silver Spring Maker Faire

Sep 25, 2016 | Matthew

The Makeability Lab and the HCIL are participating in the Silver Spring Maker Faire which is going on today from 12pm - 5pm. Our own Majeed Kazemitabaar will also be giving a special presentation on MakerWear as the "Maker in our Midst" at 2:15pm on the Main Stage. Full details are available here: http://www.makerfairesilverspring.com/

About

Social Fabric Fitness

An Exploration in eTextiles and Group Running

Group exercise has multiple benefits including greater adherence to fitness regimens, increased enjoyment among participants, and enhanced workout intensity. While a large number of technology tools have emerged to support realtime feedback of individual performance, tools to support group fitness are limited. In this paper, we present a set of wearable e-textile displays for running groups called Social Fabric Fitness (SFF). SFF provides a glanceable, shared screen on the back of the wearer’s shirt to increase awareness and motivation of group fitness performance. We discuss parallel prototyping of three designs—one flexible e-ink and two flexible LED-based displays; the selection and refinement of one design; and two evaluations—a field study of 10 running groups and two case studies of running races. Our qualitative findings indicate that SFF improves awareness of individual and group performance, helps groups stay together, and improves in-situ motivation. We close with reflections for future athletic e-textile displays.