By Javier Espinoza
GEORGE ORWELL WOULD HAVE enjoyed the irony. In an unexpected
twist on his dystopian society, technology has become more
intrusive than ever, with companies devising products to track
everything from the steps we take to how focused our brains are.
But far from it being enforced, we've not only accepted this
monitoring as part of the age we live in--we're happy to pay to be
measured and managed by it.
Tracking technology isn't new; the concept of wearable computers
has been around since the 1980s. But the way we understand it has
radically transformed with inventions like Google Glass and a new
generation of wristbands and smartwatches, which have developed
into a multibillion-dollar industry.
Companies like Jawbone have taken a leap forward in recent
years, incorporating sensors to capture details of some of our most
fundamental functions: how we eat, sleep and move. More recently,
tech giants have joined the party.
In September, Apple launched a smartwatch to measure fitness and
health, as well as HealthKit, an online repository of
health-related data that works in conjunction with apps on your
phone. The data it collects can then be channeled, with the user's
consent, to doctors. Google has launched an equivalent health
platform, and Facebook is reportedly looking into developing health
apps.
San Francisco-based entrepreneur Justin Lee spent seven years
developing Vessyl, a cup that tracks what you drink. It can
recognize what type of liquid goes into it and helps users track
their hydration levels and calorie intake. Mr. Lee envisages
Vessyl, which comes out next year ( $99, or EUR79, presale;
myvessyl.com ), as one of a series of products that will track what
we eat and drink. "I'd love to say that I know everything I am
consuming," he says. "If I did, I would be healthier."
While there's been hype about the benefits of tracking
technology--namely, making us more aware of our choices--there are
issues. Several sleep-tracking products have reportedly
overestimated the amount of sleep a person has, and entrepreneurs
are still trying to crack the code when it comes to efficiently
tracking it. This and other problems means some remain skeptical.
In his chilling 2012 novel "Intrusion," Scottish science fiction
writer Ken MacLeod imagined a device, "the monitor ring," that was
placed on women of childbearing age to track and forecast their
health. If a woman drank more than the recommended level of
alcohol, the device would alert social services. In Mr.
MacSHYLeod's view, these new devices could actually make us more
anxious about our health. "I can see that having more
self-monitoring devices could increase people's anxieties and
create yet further markets for [products]," he says.
Still, those in the industry see a multitude of benefits for the
increasingly gadget-driven population. And the demand is there. A
report last month by PricewaterhouseCoopers showed that 21% of
adults in the U.S. already own a wearable device and 72% of
consumers said they would wear a smartwatch if their firm paid for
it.
With a plethora of body-monitoring bands now available,
developers are moving toward an evermore sophisticated level of
tracking. Finland's Myontec has developed a pair of shorts with
integrated sensors that will measure muscle activity to track
cadence, heart rate, balance ratio and muscle load ( EUR620;
myontec.com ). Melon, a headband and app, is aimed at improving
your focus. The gadget measures concentration levels, collecting
data such as the microvolt signals that are coming from your brain
and providing feedback ( $149; thinkmelon.com ). "Everybody wants
to be the idealized version of themselves," says co-creator Ayre
Barnehama. "The more someone tracks on their own, the more insights
about themselves they are likely to find in the long run."
But how much information is too much? Sagi Shorrer, one of the
co-creators of Peak, a new brain training app designed to improve
mental agility ( free; itunes.com ), says that as products and
consumer demands evolve, the information gathered will become less
overwhelming and more relevant, individualized and meaningful. "The
next phase will be about making more sense of the data" and using
it to make changes to our overall health, says Mr. Shorrer. "At
some point, looking at the data will become redundant and you will
go straight into action."
Write to Javier Espinoza at javier.espinoza@wsj.com
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