Someone's getting a wearable device for Christmas this year and I am optimistic it will be a starter for an active 2014 for all those lucky people. As an early adopter of Nike's Fuel Band (and a short-term FitBit'r), I find the promise of all this biometric data from the proliferation of wearable technology to be exciting on a number of levels. Personally, the info these devices provide gives us an idea just how active we have been. Friends can compare profiles, and compete for anything from steps to calories burned. Cohorts of users can be followed, and the performance of teams tracked.
All good stuff, and especially good if the "cool tech" can be used to help with a few not so cool population health problems like our general lack of movement, but can they do that? Do they get people off the couch, or are wearers already those who enjoy the benefits of "cardioswag"? Connecting a wearable device to our internal motivation centers takes a bit more than Bluetooth. Wearing the gadgets is a start. Actually using them to drive personal performance is what's next. Impacting the lives of enough people for us to claim some population health benefits? Now that would be the gift that keeps on giving.
Happy Holidays!
PV
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