Bytemarks

At this year’s Unconferenz 2010 there were many session topics that warrant their own blog post but this one I will put to keyboard, so to speak. We usually have a gadget session and talk about smartphones, Kindles, Livescribe, etc. This year the gadget that caught my attention was the personal activity monitor. Bob Lew headed the show’n tell and demonstrated two devices while Kevin Lohman had on him the third one. Bob showed off the Fitbit and Philips Direct Life. Kevin passed around the BodyBugg. Each of these are geared to be worn over longer periods of time, as compared to the Nike+iPod Sport Kit that came out last year which is more geared around the run. The idea behind Fitbit, Direct Life and BodyBugg is that we need to understand what is happening with our waking and resting activity throughout the entire course of the day and perhaps measured for weeks. They each have the capability of synchronizing their information with a nearby computer either by Bluetooth or USB connected device. With information about heart rate during a run contrasted to a period while sitting behind a desk one can get a better picture of your overall physical condition. These devices will also monitor you while you  sleep and graph your sleep patterns over the period that you are wearing it. For sleep deprived people like me it will probably come back and tell me the 5-6 hours of sleep I have each night is not enough. Oh well.

The price points on each device is different. Fitbit cost about $100 while the Direct Life cost $100 and has a monthly recurring fee. This goes toward a health coach which you are able to access as a part of the service. The BodyBugg cost the most at $179 which has sensors to determine calorie expenditure. Obviously this is the wave of new devices that will help us better monitor our physical activity with the goal of maintaining better health.  With health care reform now passed the House, there will be a big push toward lowering the health care costs by being more healthy. The technology is becoming readily available. The more informed we are about how we are taking care of ourselves the better we are able to stay healthy. I hope to get my hands on one of these mobile devices and will  keep you informed of my tech/fitness journey.