Instabeat – A Ground Breaking Swimming Monitor From The Middle East

Hind Hobeika, a lebanese swimmer always struggled to find an accurate way to measure heart rate and hence it was harder to improve her performance. She her team decided to create swimming goggles that monitor the heart rate of swimmers through an integrated electronic application.

 “Creating something new in the Middle East is not an easy task; the most difficult challenge in the hardware industry I have had is to search the globe for supplies that match the product I am working on “says Hind . Hind named the goggles “ Butterfleye” and she has been working on this project since 2010. Hind’s journey began when she participated in the Stars of Science Reality T.V. program where she worked on creating the first prototype of Butterfleye and won 3rd place.

The Project Butterfly is now renamed as Instabeat and is listed on Kickstarter to raise funds. What makes Instbeat so innovative is its sensor design: it is the first heart monitoring tool that doesn’t require wearing a chest belt, a finger clip or an ear clip, elements that would add a lot of drag in the water, and that would be cumbersome for the swimmer. Instabeat’s sensor is integrated in the module itself, and measure the heart rate from the temporal artery. The device also stands apart by comprising a waterproof heads-up display, where the swimmer can visualize his target zone on his lens. This way, the swimmer would not have to interrupt the motion of his arms (as he would do if he was wearing a watch), and could visualize the heart rate in real-time.

As of today the team has already surpassed its target on Kickstarter and raised $44,676.

Hind participated in the 2012 MIT Arab Business Plan competition where Instabeat project won 1st place and took home $50,000. “ The competition made me write a business plan for starters and made me think outside the box “  says Hind. “ The competition also gave us a lot of exposure and crucial feedback and I think every entrepreneur needs a support system such as this which can accelerate the flow of work and the financing required to move forward “ she added .