adidas and Interactive Health Technologies (IHT) unveiled what they say is the first heart rate monitoring wrist-based device built specifically for the P.E. classroom, adidas ZONE for IHT Spirit.
Part of IHT’s Spirit System, which is a cloud-based curriculum and assessment management tool for K-12 P.E. teachers, the device enables daily one-on-one teacher coaching attuned to each individual student’s fitness level. This approach, the two companies claim, will help fight the obesity epidemic plaguing the youth where fewer than half of high school students meet the federal standards for physical activity. Also, it will help combat the alarming trend of P.E. classes being reduced or eliminated from school curriculums across the U.S.
“In working with IHT, we found a partner that shared our vision of inspiring the next generation to lead healthy lives by making sport and fitness a life-long pursuit,” Stacey Burr, VP and General Manager – adidas Digital Sports, said in a statement. “We’re firm believers that healthy habits are easier to keep the earlier you start, so introducing tools and resources at the school-level offered the perfect place to lay such an important foundation.”
The adidas ZONE for IHT Spirit works with the IHT Spirit System to make it easier for teachers to both manage an entire class and facilitate one-on-one conversations with students. Said system was used to connect 600,000 children during last year, when it demonstrated a 140% increase in student engagement. The plan is have daily interactions with one million students nationwide in 2016.
IHT is taking orders for the IHT Spirit System with adidas ZONE for IHT Spirit starting today at with deliveries to schools nationwide in time for back to school.