Dole, the world’s largest producer of fruits and vegetables, is entering the fast-growing wearables space with a hi-tech banana. You got that right, instead of launching yet another wristband or smart glass product, Dole unveiled a smart banana.
This special fruit won’t be available to the masses though; rather, only 2 out of 30,000 Tokyo Marathon runners will get to use, not eat, one of these.
The “gadget” consists of wired parts stuck to the inside of an opened banana peel, which is then stitched back together. Once strapped to runners’ wrists, the bananas will show racers’ times, tweets, heart rate, as well as advise when to eat the next banana.
“The power source is a small battery connected to the wearable banana. Inside the battery there are ultracompact LEDs and other electronic components,” said Dole Japan spokesperson Itaru Kunieda. “These are the only details about the specs that we can tell you at the moment.”
Dole has sponsored the Tokyo Marathon since 2008 and supplied bananas to potassium-deficient runners throughout the race. Previously, the company’s Japanese division has printed runners’ stats on the banana peel so adding electronic components seems like a logical next step, right?
[Via: CNet]