instruments founded 1977 kempele finland founder seppo s yn j kangas headquarters kempele finland products heart rate monitors number of employees 1 200 website www.polar.fi polar v800 advanced multisports gps watch polar electro oy globally known as polar is a manufacturer of sports training computers particularly known for developing the world s first wireless heart rate monitor . 1 the company is based in kempele finland and was founded in 1977 . it now has 26 subsidiaries with 12 000 total employees that supply over 35 000 retail outlets in more than 80 countries with approximately 1200 employed worldwide . polar manufactures a range of heart rate monitoring devices and accessories for athletic training and fitness and also measure heart rate variability . contents 1 history 2 products 2.1 equine products 2.2 b2b products 3 references 4 further reading 5 external links history edit in 1975 there was no accurate way to record heart rates during training and the idea of a wireless portable heart rate monitor was conceived on a cross country skiing track in finland . 2 polar was founded in 1977 and filed its first patent for wireless heart rate measurement three years later . its founder seppo s yn j kangas was the inventor of the first wireless ekg heart rate monitor . 3 in 1982 polar launched the first ever wearable wire free heart rate monitor the sport tester pe 2000 . 4 5 6 since the very beginning polar has been developing its devices through a rigorous scientific process aiming at for the most accurate and precise measurement possible for devices of this type . to consumers this meant that for quite a long time when for example comparing against some other manufacturers of heart rate monitors and fitness trackers polar did not offer heart rate measurement without a separate chest strap accessory . on the other hand its devices were recognized for their accuracy and this resulted in polar devices being frequently used as the preferred devices in various scientific studies 7 8 as well as being adopted by many universities research departments . in part due to its own history and the affiliation with universities and the scientific community polar offers a research co operation program focused on supporting studies in exercise science . 9 10 in november 2015 polar released its first wrist worn heart rate monitor a360 . 11 12 products edit polar rc3 gps heart rate monitor watch polar ecosystem covers a range of physical products such as various heart rate monitor devices designed for different sports and different requirement levels and related accessories as well as training fitness and weight management related services which accessed online and or using one of the polar apps . in 2016 polar also introduced an integrated scale connected to the online services . polar s get active products are focused on first time exercisers improve fitness products aimed at more experienced users have more training features included and an increased compatibility with polar s online training software . the firm s maximize performance products are designed for sports professionals . the firm has developed gps sensors that measure distance speed and route ; as well as sensors that measure stride speed pace and distance cadence and cycling power . equine products edit polar have also developed wireless products for equestrian training that measure the horse s daily exertion levels during exercise and their resting and recovery heart rates . 13 b2b products edit polar s club solutions are marketed to fitness and health clubs and are designed to monitor individual exercisers to group activity and fitness activities . the firm s education solutions provide motivation accountability and safety to students in over 10 000 schools . references edit matt fitzgerald 18 june 2005 . runner s world the cutting edge runner how to use the latest science and technology to run longer stronger and faster . rodale . pp. 63 . isbn 978 1 59486 091 1 . the finnish company polar electro founded in 1977 was the first to sell wireless heart rate monitors for athletes and still dominates this market . michael czinkota ; ilkka ronkainen 18 august 2006 . international marketing . cengage learning . pp. 310 . isbn 0 324 31702 6 . the origins of the finnish sports instruments producer polar electro can be traced back to the need of cross country skiing ... by the year 1982 the technology had advanced to the point that the first wireless heart rate monitor was ready . heart rate monitor joe friel 1 june 2009 . total heart rate training customize and maximize your workout using a heart rate monitor . ulysses press . pp. 13 . isbn 978 1 56975 389 7 . polar introduced the first wireless heart rate monitor using electric field data transfer the sport tester pe 2000 . the next year the company came out with a device containing a computer interface the sport tester ... sally edwards 1 january 1993 . the heart rate monitor book . polar cic . pp. 127 . isbn 978 0 9634633 0 2 . in 1982 polar electro oy introduced the world to the first wireless heart rate monitors . these first generation heart rate monitors the pe 2000s were released onto the market and readily accepted by athletes particularly at the elite and ... jeroen scheerder 2009 . vlaanderen loopt sociaal wetenschappelijk onderzoek naar de loopsportmarkt in dutch . academia press . pp. 75 . isbn 978 90 382 1484 9 . 1982 polar lanceert de sport tester pe2000 de eerste draadloze hartslagmeter individual differences in the responses to endurance and resistance training http hur.creamailer.fi assets uploads 4386b9ed941a611d10cbe3626047fab11214a71d shared files individualdifferences.pdf occupational medicine metabolic rate prediction in young and old men by heart rate ambient temperature weight and body fat percentage https www.jstage.jst.go.jp article joh 56 6 56 14 0063 br html device rs800cx polar s research co operation guidelines http www.polar.com en about polar who we are research research guidelines summary page of polar research http www.polar.com en about polar who we are research https www.polar.com en products sport a360 http updates.polar.com 2015 11 polar a360 accurate simplicity the equine athlete . 7 11 . veterinary practice publishing company . 1994 . p. xxiii . ... on vaulting horses during competition has proven to be not strenuous and even low compared to other equestrian sports ; ... thanks also to polar electro tor the loan of its equipment and to dr. t. van ... further reading edit michael czinkota ; ilkka ronkainen 18 august 2006 . international marketing . cengage learning . pp. 308 . isbn 0 324 31702 6 . hicks jennifer february 28 2016 . polar the original fitness tracker and heart rate monitor . forbes . retrieved june 30 2016 . hoffman michael december 14 2009 . heart rate monitors help pt flunkers . military times . dead link external links edit official website polar running program polar flow web service polar gofit educational service platform polar personal trainer online service polar watches german dcrainmaker.com us based blogger product reviews polar products wareable.com guide to using polar flow online service for runners . polar flow how to use your polar app to become a better runner compare polar heart rate monitor models from chest straps to the latest model wristwatch retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title polar electro & oldid 742694319 categories companies established in 1977sporting goods manufacturers of finlandwatch brandsactivity trackerskempelehidden categories cs1 dutch language sources nl all articles with dead external linksarticles with dead external links from june 2016official website different in wikidata and wikipedia navigation menu personal tools not logged intalkcontributionscreate accountlog in namespaces article talk variants views read edit view history more search navigation main pagecontentsfeatured contentcurrent eventsrandom articledonate to wikipediawikipedia store interaction helpabout wikipediacommunity portalrecent changescontact page tools what links hererelated changesupload filespecial pagespermanent linkpage informationwikidata itemcite this page print export create a bookdownload as pdfprintable version in other projects wikimedia commons languages deutschnederlandspolskisuomi edit links this page was last modified on 5 october 2016 at 06 30 . text is available under the creative commons attribution sharealike license ; 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