The British government is requiring that all dogs be microchipped by 2016 for identification purposes. The bold initiative will track dogs in an effort to reduce the number of abandoned animals. Utilizing RFID chips, there could be a wealth of interesting data produced in terms of the dogs behavior and movements if the government would ever expose it. Now just imagine if we could do the same with humans. It could be the next generation of Fuelband or Fitbit.
Tag: quantified self
Pew Research: Tracking For Health
Pew Research has released a new study on health tracking habits among Americans, reporting that seven in ten adults monitor a health indicator for themselves or a loved one. Additionally 21% say they use some form of technology to track their health data, whether via apps, devices or websites. Fitbit and Nike Fuelband have been some of the devices leading the way, leveraging community, achievements and powerful visualizations to motivate behavior.
GeoPalz Announces Ibitz Line
GeoPalz, the health tracker for children, has announced the ibitz product line that includes new gamification features and increased connectivity. As part of the quantified self movement, GeoPalz gathers useful data like steps walked, bmi and overall activity levels and creates a digital experience aimed at shaping behavior. The new ibitz PowerKey and Unity come with accompanying iOS and Android apps that sync via bluetooth and include an in-app GeoBotz character which needs water, exercise and sleep to stay healthy, mirroring children’s activity. There is also an adult-facing app which helps parents’ monitor their progress and integration with some third-party scales and heart rate monitors.
CES Health And Fitness Trends
Health and fitness innovation is poised for major growth at CES 2013. We’ve seen wearable devices like Nike Fuelband and Fitbit take off and we anticipate more companies will get in the mix at this year’s show. Actually, over 220 to be exact. From measuring glucose levels to REM sleep, the amount of trackable data seems endless and marketers can certainly benefit from reaching health enthusiasts on these platforms.
Nike Announces Nike+ Accelerator Program
Following in the footsteps of Microsoft Kinect, Nike just announced its first Nike plus accelerator program which kicks off in March. With a variety of products in the plus portfolio like fuelband and Nike’s fitness tracking app, participants should have a quanitified self field day. We can’t wait to see the results.
MIT Media Lab Measures Heart-rate With Webcams
There has been an huge amount of innovation in the digital healthcare space. Recently, new technology presented by Ming-Zher Poh of the Affective Computing Group at the MIT Media Lab will allow a simple webcam to give users valuable basic data about their health without requiring any change to their routines. This technology interprets the fluctuations in reflected light off of your skin caused by your heart’s beat using a simple webcam, and will present an easy-to-understand numeric readout in a number of ways, including as a display on a typical wall mirror or via the iOS app Cardiio.
Scanadu’s Medical Tricorder Will Measure Your Vital Signs In Seconds | Co.Exist: World changing ideas and innovation
Scanadu’s Medical Tricorder Will Measure Your Vital Signs in Seconds
After being down, Jawbone’s UP gets back up again — Tech News and Analysis
Jawbone UP 2.0: Still Not Wireless, But A Marked Improvement
