Can your cellphone be your personal trainer?
Researchers at the University of Washington and Intel Research Seattle have developed two cell phone application that keep track of your activity and encourage you to keep at it.
One application, called UbiFit, uses a device that monitors your physical activity and then translates it into images that appear on your cell phone as flowers in garden.
The other UbiGreen tracks your use of eco-friendly transportation.
In the case of the UbiFit, the system can detect and keep a record of different kinds of activities, say, running or bicycling.
Each week, your cell phone background image starts as an empty lawn. Then, depending on your activity, flowers appear and, with more activity, your garden grows.
Different kinds of workouts create different color flowers. And butterflies appear when you’ve met your week’s workout goals.
Sunny Consolvo, Ph.D., who recently graduated UW Information School and is one of UbiFit’s creators, says in a trial of the device people using the image-based UbiFit stuck with their exercise programs better than those who just tracked their progress using data recording their activity.
Why those who used UbiFit did better in attaining their goals is not clear, Consolvo says, but it may be that because cell phone image is always there, it provides a subtle reminder to users of their commitment to exercise and their progress towards their goals.
Ubifit was a research project and is not yet a commercial product.
Note: It is also possible to manually enter your workout information, if the device makes a mistake—or if you want to cheat.
Posted: November 19th, 2008 under Fitness & Exercise.
Tags: Cell Phone, Personal Training, Software
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