VANCOUVER, British Columbia (BRAIN) — Recon Instruments has developed a nutrition app called Refuel that tells cyclists and runners when to drink and eat during and after an activity. The app displays this information on the Recon Jet’s heads-up display.
The free app was developed with Brendan Brazier, a former professional Ironman triathlete and two-time Canadian ultra marathon champion. Brazier is a performance nutrition consultant and co-founder of Vega nutritional products.
“Brendan and I developed Refuel for Jet for two reasons,” said Tyson Miller, vice president of consumer products at Recon. “First, as athletes, we both know how easy it is to bonk or become dehydrated during activities. Athletes often don’t realize they are under-fueling and, too late to course correct, find themselves in a degraded physical state. We wanted to solve that problem. Second, we wanted to test drive Recon’s new software development kit (SDK) before its public release. Refuel was developed using that SDK, which has allowed us to tweak and improve the kit ahead of its public release later this month.”
Pairing Brazier’s knowledge of performance nutrition with Miller’s technical background, the two developed an algorithm that considers age, weight, height, gender, altitude, distance traveled, heart rate, and either pace (running) or speed (biking) to make individualized nutritional suggestions.
“I work with a wide range of pro and recreational athletes, and most of them simply don’t know when and what to eat or drink to maximize their potential,” said Brazier. “It can be tricky. Fuel and hydration needs will change based on the intensity and duration of a workout. For example, a high-intensity workout will require a larger percentage of carbs whereas a longer workout at a lower intensity will require dietary fat and protein. Refuel makes those assessments and advises athletes accordingly.”
The app delivers notifications on Jet’s display just below the athlete’s right eye. During an activity, Refuel calculates exercise output, including calories burned, and tells an athlete when to rehydrate and fuel up.
After an activity, Refuel provides suggestions for rehydration and calorie composition to optimize recovery.
The Refuel app can be downloaded for free from Recon’s new App Center. In addition to the Recon Jet smart sunglass, itt will also become available on other wearables and mobile devices.
