Form smart glasses now work with GPS smart watches to track open water swimming

Form is releasing an update today for its augmented reality smart swimming goggles that allow them to pair via Bluetooth with select GPS smart watches, allowing users to track their swimming in real time in open water, not just in swimming pools.

The $ 199 Form goggles launched last year and offered a unique method of tracking swimming metrics through the use of motion sensors and an AR display built into the goggles. But the system, while smart enough to operate independently of a smartphone, was still limited to tracking laps in pools where it already knew the size and distance it was traveling, using on-board sensors and algorithms to find out when it turned at the end. one turn or stopped.

However, the new update changes that by connecting the glasses with an Apple Watch or Garmin GPS smartwatch, allowing users to get the same swimming metrics in real time (for things like distance, stroke count, calories, and more) while swimming Open water. The glasses can also display additional information gleaned from the paired watch, such as your current heart rate, something they couldn’t do before.

The dot-matrix display won’t show you any AR maps, unfortunately, though as with regular group mode, full open water swims will sync from the goggles to the Form app when you’re back with your phone (with additional GPS and heart rate data), allowing serious swimmers to analyze their swimming results and see the full map of where they swam.

The company recommends that users wear their smart watch on the same side of their body as the screen part of the glasses for the best Bluetooth connectivity between devices. She also notes that for optimal connectivity, swimmers are encouraged to swim freestyle.

The new GPS and heart rate tracking work with Garmin Forerunner 945, fēnix 6 Pro, fēnix 5 Plus, along with Apple Watch Series 3, Series 4, and Series 5. Use of the new features requires upgrading the glasses to Recently released firmware and then installed the Garmin or Apple Watch companion app on your smart watch.