“It’s fascinating, what’s happening, and very exciting,” – Avi Rubin

At the 2016 Consumer Electronic Show (CES) last week, Under Armour announced a suite of products and services relevant to THaW research topics.  Journalists sought out THaW researcher (and PI at Johns Hopkins) Avi Rubin for comment.

First the athletic wear maker unveiled its first-ever collection of fitness devices, a suite of products dubbed UA HealthBox that included a wristband, a heart-rate monitor and a Wi-Fi-enabled scale — plus a separate “smart shoe” and Bluetooth headphones. It also upgraded the UA Record application that powers those devices. … “It’s fascinating, what’s happening, and very exciting,” said Avi Rubin, a Johns Hopkins computer science professor…. (Lorraine Marbella, Baltimore Sun, January 9, 2016 [http://www.baltimoresun.com/business/under-armour-blog/bs-bz-under-armour-ibm-watson-20160109-story.html])

This is the first of many such announcements we anticipate throughout 2016. The challenge facing the THaW community is how to ensure that privacy is protected and the collected data is secure.