Inside a secluded boardroom on the University of Toronto’s downtown campus is where managing director of TomTom GPS services, Jocelyn Vigreux, and celebrity trainer and personal fitness coach, Joel Harper, are launching the latest wearable fitness device from TomTom.

Overlooking the university’s track field, the white-on-white boardroom is everything less than ordinary, with hard wood cabinets decorating the front of the room, and a mini breakfast station situated in the back with a colourful fruit platter, fruit smoothies and a variety of hot breakfast sandwiches laid out on top of it.

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“Introducing GPS and bringing all the features a runner, biker or swimmer are looking for, and put it in a full factor that is much, much easier to use,” explains Vigreux of the company’s mission with the new watch. TomTom aims to break away from other fitness watch brands, which usually feature multiple buttons and gages, making the overall appearance and weight of the device heavy. With the watch’s one button use and simple navigation, runners, bikers and anyone who is active need not worry about having trouble fixing the settings on the device.

There is also an online component to the watch, as shown on the boardroom’s large projection screen by Vigreux. Users can go online and make a fitness profile to track their heart rate and their GPS fitness trail, as well as choose a fitness regime that best suits them. Vigreux and Harper both stress that even though the GPS is designed primarily for runners, swimmers, and bikers, the device can be used by anyone of any age who is active in their day-to-day life. From 60-year-old brisk walkers to 12-year-old soccer players, the device can be used by just about anybody with a heartbeat.

Words By. Aliecia Brissett + Photos By. Candace Nyaomi

Aliecia Brissett is a creative and fun writer from Toronto, who loves dance, fashion and getting to know her city. Having come from a single parent home, she was constantly involved in activities to keep her busy; such as her years of professional dance training in ballet, hip-hop and jazz, and her love for fashion and drawing that transcended into her becoming a stylist and overall visionary. Having always been a storyteller, and overall chatter box, Aliecia, who joined Urbanology Magazine in 2012 as a journalist and stylist, loves to speak with the movers and shakers of the industry to get a gist of her next story.

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