Wearable Becomes Reality With Fitbit
One of the most talked about emerging trends within technology the last year or so has been about 'wearables', e.g. technology that you wear, integrated in your life. I met the founder of James Park, CEO and co-founder of the most prominent manifestation of this trend -- Fitbit. To date the company has raised $23m USD to bring wearable's to the world!
The Fitbit Tracker uses a 3-dimensional accelerometer, similar to the one we find in the the Wii Remote, to sense user movement. The Tracker measures steps taken, distance walked, calories burned, floors climbed, and activity duration and intensity. It uses an OLED display to display this and other information such as the battery level. It also measures sleep quality: how long it takes the wearer to fall asleep, how often they wake up over the course of the night, and how long they are actually asleep.
A wireless base station is included to receive data from the Tracker and also charge its battery. When connected to a computer the base station will upload data to the Fitbit. From the website, a number of features are possible: seeing an overview of physical activity, setting and tracking goals, keeping food and activity logs, and interacting with friends.
