Consumer-level 24/7 fitness monitoring, a product of the mHealth sector, just became a reality today with Jawbone's launch of UP, a small wristband that monitors various vital signs and reports them to a complimentary tracking app for the iPhone and iPod touch.
Originally unveiled at TED Global, the UP wristband and app work together to track daily activity, sleep patterns and eating habits. UP also integrates a social experience and open content platform to provide motivation with personal and team challenges.
Jawbone says the product is aimed at putting a dent in the global health epidemic, which the World Economic Forum predicts will accrue costs of $47 trillion over the next 20 years, attributable to non-communicable diseases.
"As the global health crisis mounted, we felt a strong sense of responsibility to see if we could leverage our resources, talents, and ecosystem to try and help make a difference," said Hosain Rahman, CEO and founder of Jawbone, in a statement.
Jawbone notes that one of the most basic problems in accurately tracking activity is that the sensing device must be worn 24/7 in a form factor that users won't forget, lose or dislike wearing. The UP wristband features a motion-tracking engine in a durable and water-resistant design. The company suggests UP can be worn "in the gym, on the trail, with a cocktail dress or business suit, and even in the shower."
So what exactly can UP measure and track? Jawbone says the wristband will count steps, calories burned, distance, pace and active versus inactive time throughout the day. Meanwhile, the UP band's motion engine automatically tracks aspects of sleep, including hours slept, time to fall asleep, phases of sleep (deep versus light) and overall sleep quality.
Capturing your meals entails taking a photo with an iPhone or iPod touch. UP tracks where the user is eating, when they've eaten, and even asks how the user feels after having had time to digest their meal.
Throughout the day UP also subtly nudges the user into action. It starts with the silent vibration alarm built into the UP band that wakes users at the best moment in a natural sleep cycle. Similarly, users can set get-up-and-move reminders that subtly vibrate the UP band to alert they've been inactive after a certain amount of time.
The UP band comes in three sizes (small, medium, large) and seven colors (dark black, dark brown, dark red, bright white, bright silver, bright red, bright blue) and will be available for $99.99 at Jawbone.com, Apple, AT&T, Best Buy and Target nationwide beginning Nov. 6. Additionally, UP will be available at 24 Hour Fitness and other global retailers and carriers later this year.
The UP by Jawbone App is available today for free from the Apple App Store.