The Quantified Self

[charityfundraiser]

The quantified self
Counting every moment
Technology and health: Measuring your everyday activities can help improve your quality of life, according to aficionados of self-tracking
http://www.economist.com/node/21548493

 

[Astrocyte]

Fascinating, Charityfundraiser. Thanks for posting. Good video too.
This area is going to explode now that IT companies are really getting involved. This stuff could probably really help us, with the right markers.
A sophisticated system might well take the aggro out of pacing for example and even help in research.

I like the idea of The Zeo, sleep stage tracker that they mention. Just googled it and some Amazon reviews are good while others say it just doesn't work.
But this is just the beginning I guess.

 

[Marco]

Hmmm

How interesting would this data be?

The thumb-sized Fitbit, for example, made by a company of the same name based in San Francisco, clips onto a belt and uses an accelerometer and altimeter to measure activity levels and sleep patterns. A readout shows steps walked, stairs climbed and calories burned. Information is also uploaded wirelessly to a website that analyses and displays the data and lets users compare notes with their friends. Jawbone, also based in San Francisco, has released the Up, a wristband that communicates with an iPhone and can also measure physical activity and sleep patterns. Basis, another San Francisco start-up, is about to launch a wristwatch-like device capable of measuring heart rate, skin conductance (related to stress levels) and sleep patterns, all of which can then be displayed on a health dashboard.

 

[Astrocyte]

Hmmm

How interesting would this data be?

The ideas sound great but perhaps we have such screwed up bodies, normal markers may not actually reflect what they would in healthy people. For example sweating might be inhibited or excessive in dysautonomia and heart rate can whack up 50 or 60 beats just from standing still in POTS! I guess the latter might be accounted for by the movement sensors. It depends how sensitive they are and how good the software is to differentiate between different activities. I know multi-sensor clothing is in development that can tell whether you're sitting or walking up stairs etc.

I'd like to see a mobile blood sampling unit a bit like the more sophisticated diabetes units but that measure immune markers and muscle metabolism by products. But that gets to be a bit pokey and intrusive I imagine.

 

[Marco]

The ideas sound great but perhaps we have such screwed up bodies, normal markers may not actually reflect what they would in healthy people. For example sweating might be inhibited or excessive in dysautonomia and heart rate can whack up 50 or 60 beats just from standing still in POTS! I guess the latter might be accounted for by the movement sensors. It depends how sensitive they are and how good the software is to differentiate between different activities. I know multi-sensor clothing is in development that can tell whether you're sitting or walking up stairs etc.

I'd like to see a mobile blood sampling unit a bit like the more sophisticated diabetes units but that measure immune markers and muscle metabolism by products. But that gets to be a bit pokey and intrusive I imagine.

Re the latter, so would I.

But the "thumb sized Fitbit" would sure get around any objections to collecting objevtive activity data on the basis that patients found them too obtrusive or too much of a chore to wear - as per actometers.

 

[charityfundraiser]

FitBit sounds like it might have potential along with Jawbone and Nike's. I mentioned it briefly in the ActiveME thread. I'll have to look at what the API (application programming interface) allows programmers to do. Ideally, if FitBit collects the raw data and software developers can do stuff with it, applications could be made for specific purposes such as chronic illness management.

 

[Little Bluestem]

I liked the Zeo sleep monitor too, until I saw David recorded his sleep data along with information on his diet, health supplements, exercise and alcohol consumption, uploading it all onto the Zeo website. I would not be comfortable giving the company my data. I also do not have time to enter everything they want.

I would like to be able to make a few notes that I thought were pertinent, then see what my sleep pattern was.