UK Start-Up Solves Sports Wearable Accuracy Problem

FocalPoint has demonstrated the software with a distance test on a 400m running track and an ‘accurate line on map’ run through city streets.

Watch the test here: https://focalpointpositioning.com/use-cases/running (page has a YouTube video)

The film shows FocalPoint tech running on an entry-level consumer device (Fossil 5, £200)

The inaccuracy of GPS and sports-watches has long been a bugbear for both professional and amateur runners, with errors including wildly inaccurate run traces, and incorrect distance read-outs that can compromise training and racing.

Some example headlines below:

• The Guardian: Want to know how far you have run? You might need to ditch your fitness tracker
• New York Times : Why Your GPS Watch Is Not Entirely Accurate
• Which?: Is your fitness tracker lying to you?

FocalPoint technology is designed to be embedded in any running wearable or phone.

It uses the existing sensors in the device (accelerometer, gyroscope, barometer and compass), then runs the data through a custom AI model to build a centimetre-level view of human motion and combines it with a smart way of determining accurate and inaccurate GPS readings.

The software is currently a pre-release and is available for hosted demos.

It will be packaged as a library, to be integrated into existing devices or applications.

Lucy Woods, Marketing, Focal Point Positioning, said,

“With better data comes better training analysis. The current state of play with regards to poor GPS is a bugbear for all levels of runner; even for the couch to 5km’ers. But for the pro athletes, this data can mean the difference between winning and losing – especially now with the rise of virtual racing, our solution can put an end to poor accuracy.”

About FocalPoint

FocalPoint was named Europe’s Hottest SpaceTech Start-up in TechCrunch earlier this month, following their Europa Awards Win.  Formed in 2015, the team includes alumni of the UK aerospace industry, The European Space Agency, Cambridge, Oxford, UCL and Imperial College.

Investors include: Passion Capital, IQ Capital, Cambridge Angels, Rockspring Nominees, Cambridge Innovation Capital, Demis Hassabis

FocalPoint’s patents include for Supercorrelation and S-GPS, a new way of measuring GPS signals.

FocalPoint contact: Tom Gray – tom@fppnt.com.

PR Contact:Lucy George – lucy@wordville.net