User-centered Design of a Heart Rate Camera for Athlete Swimmers

Abstract

Executive Summary This summary shows the “reason to believe in”, and the design process of the Vital Signs Camera (Visica) for athlete swimmers. This is a complete product development project for Philips Research and is my graduation project for the Msc program Integrated Product Design from the faculty Industrial Design at the Delft University of Technology. Camera based HR will improve swim training Camera based heart rate (HR) measuring by means of the Vital Signs Camera (Visica) will improve the trainings of Olympic swimmers. Marcel Wouda said: “I want to use HR to individually tailor the athlete’s training load. If Visica works, it will improve the trainings.” My literature research, observations and interviews with top athletes and coaches of the Dutch national swim team showed that swim coaches still rely on time based training in regular trainings. This might lead to under-training or over-reaching of individual athletes. Lactate and VO2 measurements have proven to be too invasive to use on a regular basis. In land sports, HR is used to monitor and control training intensity, but in elite swimming existing products are too inconvenient. Visica uses the changes in colour of the skin caused by differences in light absorption by the blood due to the heart pulse. The swimmer can now measure his HR during the natural pauses in interval training, without on body sensors. The coach gets direct feedback on the athlete’s HR on his laptop or PDA, enabling him to optimise the training load. Measured data can be stored in a database and on a personal athlete weblog for later analysis and to track individual training progress. Start block version is Dominant Design Feedback sessions using product sketches shown to the end users, made it clear that the new HR technology has a dominant product design preference in the form of a start block version. This version blends in with the swimmers environment, giving feedback on HR at a place where they rest during interval training. Sense & simplicity in User Interface design I designed a simple user interface that contains 3 basic elements: a camera view window to give the swimmer feedback on his position in front of the camera, a HR value and pace clock. This last feature is a counting clock currently situated on the wall of the swimming pool showing the swimmer when to swim again. By integrating it in the UI I created an extra motivation for the athlete to look at the product screen and in the camera. Enthusiastic users The Mock-up I designed was enthusiastically perceived during a user test. Swimmers kept using it even though the HR measurement software was not optimised yet. The test showed the practical use of the Visica during regular swim trainings. It helped to create the optimal screen and camera angle. Furthermore it showed that the end users appreciated the UI with HR, pace clock and camera view window. The success of the Mock-up test was underlined by the reaction of the swimmers: “This product can help to control training goals and is much more user friendly then HR belts”. The future with Visica The Visica will enable coaches to develop currently absent heart rate zones, tailored for swimming and individual athletes. In doing so the product will help coaches to optimise and improve swim trainings and create top athletes that can push the limits.