Epson Enters Wrist Wearable Activity Monitor Category with Continuous Heart Rate Recording and Zone Training Features

LAS VEGAS, Jan. 6, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- 2014 International CES, LVCC South Hall Meeting Room S214 -- Epson America today announced its Pulsense^™ line of watches and wristbands for fitness, health and wellness monitoring.  Epson^® Pulsense is an innovative bio sensing wrist wearable device that can monitor and store your heart rate, activity level, calorie burn and sleep patterns.  Pulsense is an ideal daily wear activity and heart health tracking device for consumers with a wide range of activity goals from trying to stay fit to losing weight to training for a marathon.

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"The Pulsense product line will be Epson's first smart wrist wearable devices to leverage the company's patented Bio sensing technology," says Anna Jen, director, New Ventures/New Products for Epson America. "These products showcase Seiko Epson's heritage in wrist watch technology and consumer electronics manufacturing.  Pulsense has set the performance and features benchmark for the next generation of activity monitors.  With additional core technologies in Swing and Location sensing, consumers can expect to see more smart products coming from Epson addressing the needs of the health, fitness and sports segments of the wearables market."

Pulsense detects continuous heart rate directly from the wrist (without a chest strap) and features a breakthrough Epson proprietary heart-rate sensing module that is both accurate and compact.  The sensor measures the amount of light reflected from red blood cells and records a single heart beat when the amount of light reflected changes due to a drop in red blood cell count as the blood vessel contracts.  Ambient light interference is minimized and heart rate detection accuracy is improved using a microns thick blocking filter and multi-layer reflective coating that is achieved through Epson's precision manufacturing know-how.

Combining Epson's proprietary sensor and patented algorithms with an accelerometer enables Pulsense to take wrist worn activity monitors to the next feature and performance level.  For example, by utilizing real-time heart-rate data, Pulsense is able to determine calories burned based on personal biometrics in addition to activity levels, gender, age and weight.  Additionally, with built-in memory, Pulsense can store up to 480 hours of heart-rate data before having to transfer data to a smart phone app or computer.  Last but not least, Epson's 3-in-1 proprietary chip offers fast data processing, space-saving footprint, and efficient power usage for improved battery life performance.

"It's an amazing amount of technology packed in one compact wrist wearable device," Jen continues. "And to track progress over time, the data you capture and store using Pulsense can be transferred to an online health and/or fitness service using an iOS^® or Android^™ mobile app or data uploader software on your computer." 

As part of Epson's newly introduced portfolio of open-source wearable tech devices, Pulsense offers a developers program which has already attracted third-party mobile app developers such as Digifit^® and Custom Fit 4 You.

Pulsense will be available in two different designs. The lightweight and stylish Pulsense PS-100 band utilizes a simplified LED display that can be wirelessly connected to a smartphone to read and transfer the stored biometric data.  The Pulsense PS-500 watch features a LCD display for real-time viewing of heart rate, steps walked, calorie burn and date/time.  Furthermore, both devices feature LED indicators for heart-rate based zone training making Pulsense an ideal wrist companion for those looking to focus on fat burn or aerobic zone exercise.

The Pulsense PS-100 band and PS-500 watch will be shipping summer 2014 with a MSRP of $129.00 and $199.00, respectively through a wide range of retailers and online resellers.  Interested buyers can follow the development progress, provide feedback and pre-order limited quantities of the Pulsense products at www.prelaunch.com/pulsense-band and www.prelaunch.com/pulsense-watch.   To learn more about Epson Pulsense products, please visit:  www.epson.com/pulsense.

Epson's Pulsense product line as well as fitness and health applications are being demonstrated at the Epson SmartWare Pavilion, meeting room S214, in the Las Vegas Convention Center during 2014 International CES.  For more information on all Epson products being showcased at CES, visit www.epson.com/smartware2014.

About Epson

Epson is a global imaging and innovation leader whose product lineup ranges from inkjet printers and 3LCD projectors to sensors and other microdevices. Dedicated to exceeding the vision of its customers worldwide, Epson delivers customer value based on compact, energy-saving, and high-precision technologies in markets spanning enterprise and the home to commerce and industry.

Led by the Japan-based Seiko Epson Corporation, the Epson Group comprises more than 73,000 employees in 94 companies around the world, and is proud of its ongoing contributions to the global environment and the communities in which it operates. Epson America, Inc., based in Long Beach, Calif., is Epson's regional headquarters for the U.S., Canada, and Latin America. To learn more about Epson, please visit: www.epson.com.

You may also connect with Epson America on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/EpsonAmerica), Twitter (http://twitter.com/EpsonAmerica) and YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/EpsonTV).

Note: Specifications are subject to change without notice.  EPSON is a registered trademark and Pulsense is a trademark of Seiko Epson Corporation. All other product and brand names are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of their respective companies. Epson disclaims any and all rights in these marks.

SOURCE Epson America