FitBit
Fitbit is a startup trying to leverage the rising wellness trend- they manufacture a small device that you can wear throughout the day to find out how much physical activity you did, how well you slept etc. The tiny device sells for $99 and contains a motion sensor (like the Nintendo Wii) that converts 3D motion data into useful interpretations about your lifestyle. In a 7-day period, whenever you are in range of it’s base-station, the data is automatically uploaded to the Fitbit website where you can get detailed view into the past data and summarized reports. There are also some social networking aspects built in (like collaborate on fitness goals with your co-workers, friends)
The tracker measures the intensity and duration of your physical activities, calories burned, steps taken, distance traveled, how long it took you to fall asleep, the number of times you woke up throughout the night and how long you were actually asleep vs just lying in bed. Regardless of data accuracy and clinical efficacy, I think the concept is brilliant. We are slowly moving away from the I’ll-use-what-my-insurance-pays-for mentality to a more proactive mindset where consumers are taking thier wellness matters into thier own hands.
Fitbit represents the impending wave of consumer-oriented, internet enabled service providers that effectively combine hardware and software to provide a compelling solution around a healthcare issue. The future holds great potential for similar lifestyle-management solutions that can help affected individuals manage their chronic diseases (heart failure, diabetes, hypertension, asthma, etc.)
Update (18th December 2009): Got my FitBit in mail today! Will use it over next few months and report back.
How do Fitbit’s sleep measurement capabilities compare to Zeo’s?
Tim,
Good question. I did have both Zeo and Fitbit on for a few nights. The comparison is a bit apples-oranges. FitBit tells me:
1. Time I went to sleep
2. Time to fall asleep
3. Total time in bed
4. Actual sleep time
5. Times Awakened
Zeo told me times in Wake, REM, Light, Deep sleep. The only common metric was number of times awakened. Since I have a 2 year old, I get up 5-10 times per night on average. What I found was that there were a bit more false positives on Fitbit (for times awakened). That makes sense since Fitbit relies on accelerometer, not EEG.
I couldn’t wrap my mind around how the different phases of my sleep mattered (e.g. does 45 minute deep sleep mean normal for someone like me?) Plus it was a chore to keep track of lifestyle factors and log them in Zeo to correlate with sleep quality. So I returned it. Since I don’t suffer from any sleep issues, Zeo was an overkill for me. I find FitBit more useful (esp. #2,4,5 metrics), even though it may score low on accuracy.