When was the first fitness tracker released? What company or who created it?
Hi Monique,
you can get further back than that. If Wikipedia is a reliable source, here is what they have to offer:
“Leonardo da Vinci envisioned a mechanical pedometer as a device with military applications.[7][8] The modern all-mechanical pedometer was introduced later to the Americans by Thomas Jefferson.[9] Jefferson obtained a unit from France, but it is not known if he modified the design, or introduced it to the US as is. Although this pedometer is widely attributed to Jefferson,[10][11] proof is difficult to obtain as he never applied for any patents on any of his inventions.[12] In 1780, Abraham-Louis Perrelet created the first pedometer, measuring the steps and distance while walking.
In 1965, a pedometer called a manpo-kei (meaning “10,000 steps meter” õ©çµ¡®Þ¿ê) was marketed in Japan by Y. Hatano.[13] Y. Hatano promoted “manpo-kei pedometers” from 1985, after his research was accepted as proving that 10,000 Steps A Day was the proper balance of caloric intake and activity-based caloric expenditure to maintain a healthy body, and Jiro Kato who is Yamasa Tokei Keiki Co., Ltd., Tokyo Japan founder, Akira and Yasuji Kato’s Father, manufactured pedometers recognized to be accurate, and, named them, “manpo-meter” (later known as “manpo-kei”) as the world first invented device to measure number of steps of walking.[14] “Manpo-kei” is a registered trademark of Yamasa Tokei Keiki Co., Ltd.”
Karin Singleton
www.meltnc.com