When it comes to motivating the great unwashed to make for out , Richard Simmons has nothing on FitBit . FitBitis a forcible natural process tracker designed to help you become more participating , eat a more well - round down dieting , kip better and at last , turn you into a tidy human being . And it does it all without subjecting you to Simmons or his maniacal grin .
The FitBit was introduced in 2008 by co - founding father Eric Friedman and James Park in San Francisco . In short , it ’s a 21st - century pedometer .
The equipment is deceptively bare . About the size of a clothes personal identification number , the FitBit is shaped like a clipping , which you may easily skid into your pants pocket or onto a bandeau strap , as it ’s only around 2 inch ( 5 centimeters ) long and about half an inch ( 1.2 centimeters ) buddy-buddy . Throughout the day , FitBit log a compass of data about your activity , include the number of pace you take , distance traversed and Calorie burned . It ’s also sensitive enough to detect just how vigorous your motion are , which distinguish a slow saunter from a trot that consumes far more gram calorie .
At nighttime , you slip the FitBit into a bracelet so it can supervise your sleep quality . It knows when you go to bed , how frequently you awaken and how long you lie in prostrate , staring at the cap , pondering unmet deadline . Thrashing around at midnight because of that quadruple caffe latte you gulped at 4 p.m. ? FitBit will know .
The clip has a built - inOLED(organic luminance - pass off diode ) that scrolls current activity data . So if it ’s late in the day and you still have 8,000 step to get to your destination of 15,000 , you know it ’s time to get going , and tight . A piffling flower avatar " grows " as you become active ; it gets shorter if laziness select hold .
Every time you pass within 15 feet ( 4.5 cadence ) of its wireless base post , FitBit automatically offloads a profuseness of numbers . From there , your statistics go to your on-line profile , where you may peruse details , monitor your progress ( or lack therefrom ) and redouble your commitment to puzzle into form .
Get Your Bits Fit
FitBit is evolving , from both a computer hardware and software perspective . In October 2011 , the clip itself was upgrade and rename theFitBit Ultra .
The Ultra has the same feature article as the original FitBit , with one major accession : an altimeter . With the altimeter , Ultra know how much altitude you drop off or gain throughout a sidereal day . That ’s valuable entropy because side are backbreaking work . For representative , if you climb the stairs in an 80 - story building , you ’ll burn more gram calorie than if you ’d go the same space on a flat pavement out of doors .
In summation , the Ultra permit you contain the time and includes a stop watch so that you could manually time various activities . It displays so - called " chatter " content , too , that are supposed to encourage you to keep moving ( even though that first-rate - sized milkshake is causing you some serious side muscle spasm .
And of course , there are the aesthetics . The original FitBit sport teal stress ; the Ultra comes with your choice of either puritanic or plum tree .
There ’s enough internal memory board that the FitBit can store an intact week ’s Charles Frederick Worth of continuous data . Batterylife is estimated at about three 24-hour interval , and you’re able to check power levels at any time by plugging the whole into its base station .
FitBit does n’t track every kind of activity . It ’s not waterproofed , so swimming is out . It ca n’t tell that you just lift weights for an hour , or that a tight yoga form just wiped you out . To bridge over the opening , you could manually log action through your entanglement account . Alternately , you could expend the FitBit smartphone app ( for iPhone or Android ) to record workouts , as well as your food inhalation . The app does n’t let you upload data from your FitBit to your report , though . Only your computing machine - touch base base station grant you to do that .
Once your data is sync to your online bill , you have a plethora of option . you’re able to check your day-by-day , hebdomadal and monthly stats , of course , as well as place goals . And you may create and monitor a food program that helps you make good feed alternative .
As you accomplish specific finish , you ’ll unlock virtual badge that reinforce your positive doings . These tokens recognise your accomplishment and push you to calculate for loftier goals . you could also compare your stats with those of approved friends . produce an on-line mathematical group of Friend or co - doer and together , you’re able to share wisdom and inspiration that ’ll keep you on data track .
By nonpayment , elderly edition of FitBit made your workout info public . Because of the potential for plethora , the company changed that setting . Now , your information is individual until you configure it otherwise .
peculiar about the FitBit ’s technology ? Take a peek on the next page .
The Tech Teardown
So you cut short a small formative thingamabob to your clothes every day , hop that it ’ll somehow magically transport you out of sofa potato land and into sanitary bliss . The process seems straight , but the applied science is sophisticated .
The linchpin of FitBit is itsthree - dimensional accelerometer system . In plain language , that just means it tracks motion , as well as the saturation of that motion .
Then FitBit ’s software swear on special algorithms to commute crude accelerometer information into functional information . Those algorithms are the mystic sauce that the companionship has worked diligently to pull off and improve , by experimenting and compare FitBit ’s accuracy with other test machines .
For example , as the engineer test the " calories burned " feature , they equate FitBit ’s results with a portable telemetric gun analysis system . The latter break down gasoline piece as you exhale and very accurately determines your calorie usage .
With a batch of visitation - and - fault , FitBit has larn how to track and convert your vim expenditures ( tracked by the accelerometer ) into selective information about the number of calories you burn . as well , the company ’s quizzer have developedalgorithmsthat work well for tracking the whole tone you take and how far you ’ve make a motion .
The eternal sleep tracking lineament is more rudimentary . It merely logs how often you move throughout the night . So , if you ’re reading in bottom and not move the sleeve to which the FitBit is attach , it will call up you ’re log Z’s . similarly , if you be given to flail about often during the night , the equipment may understand your motions as meaning you ’re not sleeping at all .
In order for all of this to work properly in a universe that differs greatly in physical characteristics , FitBit needs more entropy . Using your internet - based account , you inscribe personal entropy regarding age , weight , height and sexual urge . you may also click to log your meals so that FitBit have it away how many bacon triple cheeseburgers you ask to work off .
Armed with your personal stats and a continuous stream of question datum , FitBit will keep you updated with information that separate you how much – or how little – activity your consistence is getting .
Fitter, Bit by Bit
FitBit ’s healthy purpose are a hit . FitBit ’s comparatively affordable price and ease of use has win it a share of fast users and some accolades . In 2009 , FitBit was an Innovation honoree in the Health and Wellness category at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas .
But FitBit is only one ware in a current trend of wearable fitness gadgets . It has plenty of challenger . Jawbone’sUp , for instance , is a wristband that tracks your motion and vibrates when you ’ve been inactive for too long . It has asmartphoneapp andsocial networkingfeatures , too .
There are also more advanced ( and more expensive ) products for people who have both calories and Johnny Cash to burn . TheBasis Bandis a watch - comparable equipment that comes loaded with sensors that track affection rate , social movement and evengalvanic skin response , which is a measurement of your stress levels .
TheBodyMedia Fitis an armband equipped with four type of sensor that supposedly catch around 5,000 data gunpoint every moment . In increase to a motion sensor , it logs temperature , galvanic skin response andheat flux , which concern to the amount of heat that ’s dissipating from your body . Together , these sensors may provide a clearer picture of your overall natural action and health .
And when it do to monitoring sleep character , it gets more complicated . catch some Z’s is highly variable and personalised behavior , and as such , there are many gadgets dedicated exclusively to go after the caliber of your rest . Those admit theLark sleep sensor , Zeoand others . If you really necessitate eternal sleep - related functions , you might be adept off using something in this production category instead of a fitness gizmo .
All of these product are tech - powered gadgets . In our Internet- and statistics - saturated age , devices like the FitBit really are a mark of the times . Will FitBit and its ilk serve usher in a new era of health - consciousness ? Or will they become disused and irrelevant in the face of our yearning to gormandize ourselves with just one more ocean - salt encrust French tike ?
Perhaps the social networking components of FitBit will propel it to expectant succeeder and help transmute people into creatures who appreciate their strong-arm fitness . Or perhaps the gadgetry will just nose up on the car base mats , stick next to an empty fast food for thought wrapper . Only time will evidence , and when it does , you’re able to bet that your physical fitness app will share it with the rest period of your social web .
Up until a few years ago , my only exercise was short walks to and from the electric refrigerator .
Then , a dogged ( read : incredibly annoying ) , running - obsessed friend at last convince me to get outside and run , if only a few soggy air mile . She encouraged me to start slow , take my time and let my body conform to new routines . The shift was slow and not without struggle , but eventually , I got into the effective shape of my life .
It was the consistent encouragement and goal tracking that helped me fulfill that feat . contraption like FitBit are kind of like having a booster who prods you along when you really do n’t feel up to worrying about your health . It keep the issue front and center , every day , so that you learn to prioritize physical well - being . And as some citizenry say , your health is all you have . If devices like these can give us better , longer lives , I ’m all for them .
