Way Past Pedometers

Philips launched a new gizmo this week: the DirectLife monitor. More than a pedometer of old, the little device contains an accelerometer, the same kind of sensor that lets an iPhone know which way up its being held, or that lets a Nintendo Wii video game controller how hard its being swung during a simulated game of tennis.

Carrying the Activity Monitor all day long allows it to record daily physical motion, or activity. Philips claims sophisticated algorithms allow the device to extrapolate how much a whole body is moving on the basis of how much just one part of that body (i.e. the pocket holding the device) might shift. Green bars light up to let the user know how much activity is being logged. And the daily tallies can be uploaded to the interwebs, where a monthly subscription provides access to personal advice from a real human being on goals, activity, diet, etc.

While the device will be made available directly to consumers, Philips does seem set for a big push towards corporate clients. Sizeable healthcare cost savings are available to employers investing in healthy workforces, especially in the US. DirectLife should provide a fairly straightforward means to prove increases in physical activity to insurers and the like.

In an interesting choice of tactics, Philips seems to be going the physical activity path, while Nike takes the running / fitness industry track. What chance some decent data to test the relative effectiveness of the two?

The services behind the Philips and Nike gadgets, meanwhile, are likely to be what endures. The gadgets themselves are likely to be made redundant as yet more manufacturers offer these features in mobile phones.