Tag: biometrics

Updated ‘quantified self’ gear coming this year

The quantified self movement keeps chugging along, with updated tech announcements coming from both Withings and BodyMedia this week.

BodyMedia will introduce an updated version of their arm-mounted health data collector, theoretically shipping in August. The new version is quite a bit more attractive than the current one. It measures activity / movement, sleep patterns, and calories burned. It competes with the Nike+ FuelBand, the FitBit One, and others.

Withings, who first arrived on the scene with a Wi-Fi weight scale, is introducing an updated scale — the Smart Body Analyzer — but also an activity monitor — the Smart Activity Tracker — to compete with FitBit and all the rest. It’s not clear when these products will ship, though Withings is claiming a Q1 release.

The Smart Body Analyzer is the most interesting addition to the field, as it’s bringing more sensors to the party. This thing will get your weight and body fat percentages, like the current model, but it will also capture heart rate and — this is the amazing bit — air quality, in terms of CO2 levels in the ambient air. Captured data syncs via Wi-Fi or Bluetooth, and naturally goes into their cloud-hosted data monitoring system and smartphone apps. You can sync over to Microsoft HealthVault if you like.

Personally, I’m wearing a Nike+ FuelBand right now and I love it. It actually think the FitBit is more accurate, but the FuelBand goes on your wrist and stays there — you don’t lose it off your belt or send it through the wash in your pants. The only one I really want to try out is the Jawbone Up, which has more features than the FuelBand, but lacks the FuelBand’s integrated data display.

Meanwhile, check out this article from AllThingsD on the trends in the space:

Fitbug pitches employers and launches new activity, weight, and blood pressure gear [UPDATE]

[Update at bottom of post]

This is a new one on me. I follow the “quantified self” market fairly regularly, but it’s the first time I’ve seen activity tracking devices and services being pitched directly to employers.

The idea: As an employer, you want to encourage healthier behaviors, in order to drop your insurance costs. With Fitbug, now your company can hook up with them to provide units to staff and track progress individually and as a group.

The site offers relatively little information and no real studies of effectiveness. But it’s an intriguing idea — one that’s likely to gain traction in the next few years as devices get cheaper and employers (and health insurance carriers) get employees and customers more engaged in health management and promoting healthy behaviors.

New Fitbug Gear

Meanwhile, Fitbug is introducing a bunch of new gear, including the Fitbug Orb, a low-cost ($50) Bluetooth-connected activity tracker (that’s not currently shown on their own web site). They also have a new wireless weight scale (the Fitbug Wow) for $80 and a blood pressure tracker (the Fitbug Luv). None of the new gear is shipping yet, but should all be on the market before summer.

UPDATE: 2012-01-08

While Fitbug has one of the most in-your-face pitches to corporate health device buyers, they’re not the only ones talking to this market. Waaaaaayyy at the bottom of the Fitbit site is a link called Corporate Wellness that takes you to a page pitching the same concept: buy tons of our devices for employees and use them to promote wellness / drive down insurance costs. Sorry I failed to notice that one! If you have other examples from device makers, please let me know.