Working out has always been a passion for husband Jimmy Leu and wife Beatrice Chu. But Chu, being an devoted cyclist, had a hard time finding a wearable fitness device to accurately track and monitor all of her workouts. Leu, with a master’s degree in electrical engineering (along with a strong background in image-processing development and mechanism design), set out to find the perfect wearable wristband for his wife. But, he found that the wristbands on the market only detected movement through the swinging of arms, which don’t sufficiently track data when riding a bike, according to their Kickstarter page.

Leu then set out to find the strongest motion signal spot on the body, and after hundreds of tests, he found that the ankle had the best ability to send strong enough signals to cover a majority of cardio workouts. That discovery led the couple to design Flyfit, an ankle tracker designed for fitness, cycling and swimming.

“Lightweight, stylish and accurate. Start every day off on the right foot with the only device you’ll ever need to track and monitor your physical activity,” they wrote on their Kickstarter page.

Flyfit is a smart fitness tracker made from thermoplastic polyurethane. It is able to track calories, distance, duration, average speed, leg strokes, even sleep. Features include a waterproof connector to enable use underwater or in the rain, as well as Bluetooth 4.0/BLE technology to provide wireless synching to smartphones.

An iOS application is currently under development that would create a personalized home page, daily activity summary, GPS map, track goals and detailed statistic reports.

Flyfit is currently in Kickstarter trying to raise US$90,000 by March 25. The first 200 backers who pledge $89 or more receive an early-bird special that includes one tracker and two bands.

Beta versions of the Flyfit band are expected to be shipped in May, and the final product is scheduled for August.

Stretch goals include:
• $150,000 for an Android application
• $180,000 for open API for third-party developers
• $500,000 for a game application