Working out always involves some sort of counting. Keeping track of your reps as you lift weights is fairly simple, but not so much when skipping rope. This is something the Tangram Factory team is hoping to help with.
As its name would suggest, the Smart Rope is a smart jump rope that employs sensors and 23 LEDs to reveal your real-time count in mid-air, right in front of you as you break a sweat. This is made possible through persistence of vision, an effect commonly seen in cinema that refers to an optical illusion whereby multiple discrete images blend into a single image in the human mind.
Most of the magic, however, happens inside the two lightsaber-like handles. The Smart Rope connects to its accompanying mobile app via Bluetooth, while proprietary sensors detect full 360-degree revolutions of the rope and track them as complete hops. According to Tangram Factory, “This allows for a level of accuracy in your fitness data that can’t be achieved by the simple gyroscopes or accelerometers found in most wearables.” Not only will it keep tabs on the number of times you skip, the futuristic display can even show you data like calories burned or time elapsed.
If you’re looking to add some sci-fi-like smarts to your workout, you’ll have to shell out $90. Otherwise, you can pick up an old rope, start jumping and count yourself.