US 6,013,007 · Granted 2000-01-11
The 2000 GPS Watch That Predicted the Fitness Tracker Revolution
Imagine a watch that uses GPS satellites to track exactly how far and fast you're running, then plays personalized coaching tips through your headphones in real time. This 2000 patent combined GPS tech with audio feedback and online data sharing—essentially inventing the template for every modern fitness tracker.
The plain-English version
What it protects
The claim covers a wearable athletic monitor that receives GPS signals to calculate real-time performance metrics like distance, pace, elevation, and time elapsed, then delivers that feedback via audio headphones. It also protects the system architecture for uploading performance data to a remote computer or internet platform where athletes can compare results, receive personalized training advice, and participate in virtual competitions. What's protected here is the integrated combination of GPS-based performance calculation, audio feedback delivery, and networked data collection and display.
Why it matters
This patent arrived at a pivotal moment in consumer technology: GPS receivers were becoming small and affordable enough for wearables, but nobody had yet figured out how to package real-time athletic feedback into something a jogger could actually carry and understand. By filing in 1998 and securing the grant in 2000, this patent staked early claim to the core mechanics of modern fitness trackers—GPS measurement, instant feedback, cloud storage, and social comparison. The networked architecture also anticipated the gamification and community features that would later make Strava and similar platforms massive.
Real-world use
When you go for a run with your Apple Watch or Garmin and hear a voice announce your splits and pace, or glance at real-time elevation gain on your screen, you're using the same core idea: GPS position data instantly transformed into athletic feedback.
Original USPTO abstract
A Global Positioning System (GPS) based personal athletic performance monitor for providing an athlete with real-time athletic performance feedback data such as elapsed exercise time, distance covered, average pace, elevation difference, distance to go and/or advice for reaching pre-set targets. The monitor is integrated with an AM/FM/TV personal radio, and the athletic performance feedback is provided through a set of audio headphones using an audio module. The monitor can be connected to an external personal computer via a serial or infrared port for further data storage and long term trend analysis, or to a remote computer via modem, where historical performance data is collected and logically compiled from participating athletes worldwide. Results are then transferred to an Internet web site which displays comparison data representing the relative performances of two or more athletes, provides customized individual training advice and virtual competitions, and an opportunity for advertisers to reach highly well defined potential customers. Geographically and demographically targeted advertising messages are also downloaded to the performance monitor while connected to the remote computer.
Patent details
- Publication number
- US 6,013,007
- Filing date
- 1998-03-26
- Grant date
- 2000-01-11
- Assignee
- Liquid Spark, Llc
- Inventor(s)
- ROOT; GARY MILLER, VAN HOORN; FRANK
- CPC class
- A63B69/0028
Want to file your own patent?
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