Imagine a world where your every move, heartbeat, body temperature change and sleep is tracked by an intricate network of activity monitors. In this episode we talk about the wearable world of activity monitors, which live at the intersection of health and the Internet of Things.

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Sensors in activity monitors

• Accelerometer — G-force acceleration
• Gyroscope — Rotation
• Compass — Orientation
• GPS — Location
• Altimeter — Altitude

Activity monitors

[table colalign=”left|center|center|center|left”]
Monitor,Steps,Calories,Sleep,More
Fitbit ($89-$130),Yes,No,Yes,Stairs
Basis ($199),Yes,No,Yes,Heart Rate
Withings Pulse,Yes,No,Yes,Distance\, Heart Rate
Jawbone Up ($100),Yes,No,Yes,Alarms
Nike Fuelband ($149),Yes,Yes,Yes,Goals
Misfit Shine,Yes,Yes,Yes,Waterproof
Garmin Vivofit ($130-$170),Yes,Yes,Yes,GPS
BodyMedia Fit ($89),Yes,Yes,Yes,Temp
Striiv Play ($40),Yes,Yes,No,Stairs
Fitbug Orb ($50),Yes,Yes,Yes,Distance
[/table]

More fashionable activity monitors

• Wellograph
• Pebble Steel on Kickstarter

“Wearable” clothing (activity monitoring clothing)

• Hexoskin on Indiegogo
• Squid Fitness Monitoring Shirt — Measures muscle electrical pulse. Partnership with Nike+ and Northwestern University
• Under Armour & Zephyr partnered to create a sensor-equipped compression shirt
• Sensoria Fitness Smart Socks for runners
• AiQ BioMan Fabric — Heart rate, respiration, skin temperature
• GOWTrainer.com

Other fun diversions in this category

• Whistle — The dog activity monitor
• Google Glass — Come on! You know this will show up on lots of lists!
• Notch — 10 sensors for athletic training
• Tao Wellshell — Isometric device, pitting your muscles against themselves
• Beddit — Sleep monitor for your bed, just slip it under your sheets
• Trace — The ultimate for Surfers, Skateboarders, Skiers and Snowboarders
• Empatica — Real-time stress monitor

Episode topics

• Apple and iWatch and Healthbook, oh my
• The possibility of privatized EHRs (electronic health records)
• The Apple iWatch: It’s not a thing yet™!
• What is the Internet of Things, again?
• Gamification
• Fashionable wearables
• What’s in these things anyway? (See “What’s in activity monitors?”)
• Accuracy (a.k.a. “truth devices”, a.k.a. how do they test these things?)
• The smarts is in the software
• “Wearable clothing”
• Smart socks
• Prescribing the Internet of Things
• Implications for sports, including board sports
• IoT-based scoring