Post date: Jan 11, 2016 12:20:35 AM
Blog post for January 10, 2016
Wearable technology: from Active Link to Lumo Lift
One of the hot technology fads of 2014 became an even hotter trend during 2015, and promises to just keep growing: wearable technology. What are wearables? According to the website Statistica, they include devices worn around the wrist: smart watches and fitness trackers and Fitbit is one of the top sellers. They shipped 4.7 million units between July and September 2015.
For most of the past two years I wore the Weight watcher’s Active Link, a fitness tracker, which clips discreetly to undergarments and provides feedback on activity levels. It was useful and helped me to identify the days of the week when I was most apt to sit (Sundays, when I did a lot of grading and planning) and when I was more likely to be on the move. Unfortunately, with the changes in technology and the changes to the Weight Watcher program, the Active Link stopped working this past fall, and most people switched to the Fitbit instead.
As noted, wearable technology has caught on as more and more Americans wear a Fitbit, Apple Watch, or digital pedometer or some kind of activity tracker. They were also popular Christmas gifts. I got a new wearable device myself: the Lumo Lift, a small device that you wear on your upper body to help remind you to have good posture. It comes with several magnetic attachments, giving you some choice about how you wear it. Basically, it buzzes if you slump, reminding you to straighten up.
In addition, once you download the Lumo lift app on your smartphone, it also counts the steps you take and records the time that you use good posture. It’s also a very social app, with frequent messages to praise you when you do well, reminders to wear the lumo lift, and notes of milestones.
Yesterday, I had four good posture hours but only 2,942 steps. The day before, I had almost 7,200 steps but only one good hour of posture. So far, my only complaint is that the coaching feature gets turned off accidentally. I have a tendency to check to see that I still have the lumo lift device on my bra strap and sometimes turn it off. However, overall, it has made me much more mindful of my posture and it is encouraging to see the progress, so I would recommend it.
What other options are out there for wearables? Amazon has a whole section devoted to wearables. Categories include smart watches, activity trackers, wearable cameras, smart glasses, running watches, and more. Some are geared more for health and others for fitness or sports. There is an amazing array designed for children and even pets: the devices for children are simplified smart watches that help them learn how to tell time and include games and activities. In addition, they can take pictures.
Other wearables for kids (and pets) are intended to make it possible for parents to keep track of them, and are dubbed “anti-lost” devices. Looking at these made me remember when my daughter was an active three year old and I traveled by plane with her and her little brother, who was an infant, from Providence, Rhode Island to Des Moines, Iowa. The low tech solution to wandering children in the 1980s was a little contraption of straps that looked something like a dog leash and harness! However, we survived the trip and no one looked at me as a terrible mother.
Some pet devices are activity trackers, making it possible to see if your overweight pet is getting enough activity. Garmin makes a device like a wireless leash, capable of controlling up to three dogs. Other companies make small activity trackers for children: their parents can monitor their day to day progress. To see the details for all of these devices, simply follow the link to Amazon’s wearable technology page.
One of the articles I read suggested that wearables are only going to expand: they take the trend of mobile technology one step further, and the small devices are designed to work with our existing smartphones, and feature specialized apps.
As more of us start 2016 with a desire to get healthier, wearables are a great tool for monitoring progress and keeping us mindful of our goals. They can motivate us to do better tomorrow, as well as document how well we have done in the past week.
For more information, check these sources!
http://www.amazon.com/b?ie=UTF8&node=10048700011
Amazon’s page for wearables.
http://www.amazon.com/Lumo-Posture-Coach-Activity-Tracker/dp/B00N9P8GMW
Amazon’s page for Lumo Posture Coach Activity Tracker
http://www.statista.com/chart/3762/wearable-device-shipments/