- Philips Wearable Sensing Technologies (WeST) activities began at the end of 2007, when Philips spotted the future opportunities of wearables as enablers of value add services and applications in the context of IoT and, within such ecosystem, the option of a business play in the delivery of accurate body metrics sensing platforms solutions to device manufacturers and service providers.
- Together with a dedicated team focus quickly narrowed to a platform for cardio and body motion sensing and, as first target, the delivery of accurate Heart-Rate function integrated in a sport-watch, as substitution of the uncomfortable chest-belts, the HR monitors industry holy grail back then.
- In January 2013 MIO Global, as first WeST customer, brought to market the MIO Alpha, the first integrated wrist-worn HR monitor which, being powered by Philips first generation of its platform, was praised for its accuracy and is still considered to date a benchmarking reference for this.
- This amazing breakthrough was possible thanks to the unique expertise available within Philips across all the multi-disciplines needed to craft and engineer such a disruptive technology, particularly bio-medical engineering, mixed signal electronics design, algorithm design.
- Since then the activities have grown substantially and the WeST venture has settled into a business which offers a wide range of metrics over its 3rd generation platform to sport, consumer, health and industrial markets and keeps investing considerably to further extend its customer base and its metrics, platform scope and capabilities.
