Kuaiwear, maker of Kuai – ‘the world’s first clinically validated, multisport biometric headphones’ – has reached its Kickstarter goal of US$61,000 with the help of more than 430 backers in only eight days. The company already has working prototypes and will use its Kickstarter support to develop the tooling for Kuai’s moulds and fine tune the software.
The Kickstarter campaign began on 9 June 2015 and will run until 9 July. Having reached its funding target, Kuai is slated to ship in November 2015.
Kuaiwear co-founder and CEO, Carlos Marco Rider, said this a monumental step in providing athletes of all sports with the most accurate biometric data in the market. “We’re excited to have received such generous support from our backers. We reached our goal in only eight days, proving that people are looking for an easy-to-use, smart device to help them train more efficiently and improve their performance while running, cycling and swimming.”
Kuai headphones monitor users’ biometrics and sport performance using technology covered by 30 patents and that is ‘clinically validated by Duke University’. The company notes that it eliminates the need to carry multiple devices during a workout by combining ‘a heart rate monitor, foot pod, sport watch, MP3 player and virtual coach into a comfortable and highly accurate device.’
Kuai calculates heart rate, VO2 max, calories, cadence, distance, pace and speed in land and water. Positioned as being ideal for any sport, it offers the ability to create and download customizable, professional training plans and receive voice feedback and configurable voice alerts to train smarter and improve performance.
Kuai is waterproof up to three metres and includes custom ear tips for different sports to ensure a secure fit during any activity. The headphones have a five-hour battery life and can operate autonomously using 8 GB of integrated memory and an MP3 player, or connected to mobile devices using Bluetooth for the ability to answer phone calls and listen to music using a phone. It can also connect to bike cadence sensors using ANT+ to receive live voice feedback about distance, speed and cadence while riding.
Users can access their sport data and control all features using Kuai’s free mobile app for iOS and Android or desktop app for PC and MAC. They may also choose to export the data in .FIT format to any popular fitness app such as MapMyFitnes, Strava or Garmin.
Kuai prototypes have been used for live demonstrations at various triathlons throughout the US. Most recently, at IRONMAN 70.3 Boulder, David Clark, ultra-marathoner and author of the best selling book ‘Out There: A Story of Ultra Recovery’, ran a full marathon on a treadmill in 3 hours and 38 minutes using a Kuai prototype to accurately measure his heart rate, speed, distance, cadence and calories. A video of Clark reaching the “finish line” can be found on the company’s Kickstarter page. Kuaiwear will continue to host live demonstrations at the IRONMAN European Championship in Frankfurt, Germany, from 2-5 July 2015.
Based in Shenzhen, China, Kuaiwear is comprised of a team of experienced marathoners, triathletes and IRONMAN athletes with backgrounds in electronics, software and business. The desire to exercise more efficiently drove the team to create Kuai, the world’s first multisport biometric headphones, using ‘clinically validated technology to provide accurate biometric data.’
