How Fitness Trackers Work | How Things Work with Kamri Noel

How Fitness Trackers Work | How Things Work with Kamri Noel
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    KAMRI: Hey y'all.
    It's Kamri, and I'm playing with my Fitness Tracker.
    These things are amazing.
    And, 10,000.
    I've always wondered how Fitness Trackers work.
    They're on my wrist, but they somehow know what my feet are doing?
    Time to get to the bottom of this.
    Let's ask Nat Geo's Cody Goldhan.
    CODY: Hey Kamri. KAMRI: Hey!
    CODY: Thanks for letting me use your loft gym.
    While I do fascinating work in the field,
    I gotta stay active and limber when I'm designing stuff at the office.
    KAMRI: Sweet.
    So, you're a mechanical engineer who knows all
    about fitness technology?
    CODY: If it's the mechanics-of-tracking related, I'm your guy!
    KAMRI: Okay, so how does my Fitness Tracker, uh,
    track my fitness?
    CODY: We'll need to see a fitness tracker's component parts.
    Let's check out a Fitness Tracker Cross-sectional Diagram.
    Fitness trackers don't only sense when you move.
    They sense how you move.
    KAMRI: I didn't realize I moved in different ways.
    CODY: We move in all kinds of different ways,
    different directions, different speeds, rotations.
    Fitness trackers monitor your movement with
    accelerometers and gyroscopes.
    The gyroscope detects which orientation you are moving and
    the accelerometer detects how fast and in what direction
    your body moves.
    Together they can tell exactly how you're moving through space.
    KAMRI: That's amazing!
    CODY: Most trackers will measure at least three
    different directions, or as we call them "axes."
    These axes are: Back and forth.
    Side to side.
    And up and down.
    Inside your band, the tracker can sense when you lean or
    rotate your body by using a gyroscope like this.
    KAMRI: Sweet.
    Okay, so I get how my tracker detects movement,
    but what about my heart rate?
    CODY: Some trackers use optical scanners to see the
    blood actaully pumping through your capillaries.
    Some use weak electric current, too weak to even feel,
    to gauge how fast your heart is beating and
    how fast you're breathing.
    KAMRI: Cool! And slightly creepy!
    CODY: Finally, the tracker sends all its data to a microprocessor.
    It's like the brain of the tracker.
    It makes sense of everything it collects and transmits the
    relevant info to the screen or your phone.
    Routinely elevating your heart rate helps keep a
    healthy blood pressure.
    And the best way to keep your body strong and flexible
    is by moving it regularly.
    KAMRI: How about we test these out at a gym?
    CODY: You're on!
    KAMRI: Hashtag How Things Workout!
    All right, you ready?
    Back and forth!
    And high knees!
    All right!
    Oh, look, my heart is at a good rate.
    And, oof, you need a shower!
    CODY: Did your fitness tracker tell you that?
    KAMRI: No, I just know.
    Now that you know how that works,
    catch up on all the other episodes of How Things Work
    by clicking right here.
    And also make sure you subscribe to Nat Geo Kids
    by clicking down here.
    See you next time, bye!
    Captioned by Cotter Captioning Services.
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