Текстовая версия
 Версия для печати | Отослать ссылку| Добавить в избранное
British Council Science
 Front of car ©University of Warwick
'cubed' webzine
Bach is Back
Conserving Coral
Robot Detector
Catching the Virus
Engineering and Push-Ups
Networked Telescopes
Breathing Pictures
Recording Memory
Small size, big sound
Virtual Cocoon
Avoiding Mass Extinctions Engine
Smart house helps dementia sufferers
The Biggest Telescope in Space
‘We Recommend This …’
‘Audioblogging’
The Jumping Robot
New help for Depression
Hydrogen Located on Moon
Dinosaur teeth tell evolutionary story
2.7 Billion Year Old Discovery
Gorilla Talk Reveals New Insight
Eco Housing Experiment
Music and Endurance
Mini Robots
Cloud Radar
Smart Green Meter
New conservation
Электронная бумага
'I believe in yesterday'
Биостекло, заживляющее кости
Обнаженная планета
Растения пустыни
Показания по уголовному делу
Сила Змеи
Интерактивный Прямой Эфир
Важная веха в генетике
Бионическая рука
Сухая стиральная машина
Саморемонтирующийся самолет
Сенсоры для Красных Острых Перцев
Дружески-настроенное программное обеспечение
Сферическое телевидение
Автобус без водителя
ВИРТУАЛЬНЫЙ ЛОНДОН
Gymfu
For more information on Gymfu
Imperial College
For more information on Mechanical Engineering at Imperial College
cubed logo © British Council
Engineering and Push-Ups
Rear of car © University of Warwick

Personal trainer
As people’s lives get busier, it becomes more important to keep fit but more difficult to find the time to do so. This lifestyle trend prompted Jof Arnold and his cousin, Benjie Gillam, to create an application for the iPhone which they describe as having your own personal trainer with you, in your pocket. The user attaches the iPhone to their arm and the application will give feedback on push-ups, quality and speed, and give detailed reports. ‘Our intention,’ says Arnold, ‘is to give the experience of having a personal trainer all of the time, wherever you are.’

Car Smoke © Maciej korzekwa - iStockphoto

Multi-disciplinary skills
Arnold is a graduate of Mechanical Engineering at Imperial College London and Gillam studied Maths with Physics at Southampton University, and both sets of skills have been applied in developing Gymfu. ‘The main thing is interpreting acceleration data,’ says Arnold. ‘Interpreting it and using that data to work out human movement, human motion.’ The idea began back in 2007 when they were trying to get fit for Gillam’s wedding, and the time required to go to the gym meant it was easy to let it slip. So they developed this application that can monitor your exercise progress, and you can do it wherever you are. Developing it required a lot of multi-disciplinary skills, explains Arnold. ‘It required my Mechanical Engineering because I understand 3D Force Vectors, and it requires knowledge of signal processing - which I did on Mechanical Engineering. It also requires a sense of skill you don’t realise you are getting at University, because they don’t stress it, which is the ability to do physical calculations, but in real time.’ It’s this real-time physical analysis which Arnold says is at the core of the application and it’s why it is challenging for anyone else to copy.

Mind-blowing
In short, Arnold says, ‘there’s mathematics, signal processing, networking, information system engineering, software design, interfacing with hardware. It’s most of both of our courses.’ Arnold believes that there are already people in the world doing this kind of software, but the success of Gymfu has made them more scientifically ambitious.‘ What’s really exciting is that what we have done already is already advanced. What we’ve got planned next is mind-blowing by comparison,’ he says without revealing much. ‘We are pushing a whole area of technology some way beyond what anyone has seen so far.’

LearnEnglish Science activities
Why not do a language activity based on this cubed story, Engineering and Push-ups? You can double-click on any word on this page for a dictionary definition.

The United Kingdom’s international organisation for cultural relations and educational opportunities.
A registered charity: 209131 (England and Wales) SC037733 (Scotland)
Registered in Singapore as a branch (T09FC0012J) and as a charity (No 0768).
Our privacy and copyright statements.
Our commitment to freedom of information. Double-click for pop-up dictionary.

 Positive About Disabled People Download Browsealoud