The digital empire is now entering the gym, although it has already been there in other formats, but now with your accelerometer equipped IPhone, your work out can involve keeping it close to your heart, literally. Walk and Play was one of the first free applications created using the IPhone and I wrote about it a short while back. The application will also allow you to find 24 Hour locations.
Walk n Play iPhone Application – Tracks Every Move You Make and Creates A Report
There has been a lot of interest of late with such programs that report data and the insurance industry has a great interest in this data as well through their wellness programs they are developing. Below is one post about Wellpoint and their agreement with Red Brick insurance, who is a client of Ingenix (United Healthcare) to use such devices to record biometric information to create behavior based evaluations for health insurance.
WellPoint enters wellness program partnership With Red Brick – Behavior Based Health Insurance
Target Stores have also partnered with Red Brick to have options of using biometric tracking, devices that use wireless technology to report back your activity levels, again through the use of an accelerometer or other types of devices that use wireless to report on your body’s movements and activity levels. It all comes back around to those algorithms being used to collect data.
Target Corporation Partners with Red Brick Wellness Program
I would also want to say that in the future with biometric monitoring said to be increasing by 25% in the upcoming year, we might see the gyms entering partnerships with wellness coach programs run by health insurance companies too, a guess on my part here. The link below discusses the use of wireless biometric with some pros and cons.
What Is the Role of the Employer Today with Wellness and Health Insurance – Biometric Wireless?
At any rate if you are a 24 Hour Fitness member, you might find the application useful and it appears all the data is stored on the device from what I read here, but as with any application read all the fine print so you know where the data is going and who’s in control. Those software application licenses that we all used to click and assume we understood are changing, so one click without reading the full agreement could stand to send data to places unknown if you have not read up. BD
24 Hour Fitness, the U.S. based fitness chain, is now ‘mobile’. The company has recently introduced My24 - an iPhone application (app) and Mobile Web site. The new offerings bring fitness management features directly to mobile devices.
My24 has a 'Calorie Burner', which tracks workout duration and intensity to calculate hard-burned calories and data on the users resting metabolic rate.
There is also a daily calorie calculator, which works out approximate calorie needs based on activity levels.
Also this week dreamGEAR has announced an exclusive partnership with 24 Hour Fitness for fitness related video and computer game accessories.
The Fitness Game Goes Mobile |
This is interesting.
ReplyDeleteRecently the 24 hour fitness around where I live changed the way people would enter the building. Instead of scanning your card, they now take your fingerprint. Entrance into the gym is now based on finger print and your phone number.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the comments and technology is going to continue to grow in this area.
ReplyDeleteInteresting now that 24 Hour fitness is using fingerprints too. I think we will see a lot more changes in the gyms as well. Me thinks there will even be more software analysis and coaching software throughout in time.
This is a great Guide to Fitness and weight loss
ReplyDelete