Increased accuracy in self-tracking data
If you look at the wearable technology and quantified self market out there, you will no doubt find an overwhelming number of lifelogging applications out there, that will promise to offer you insights into your health. With competition increasing daily with the boom of the quantified self market, we inevitably see many companies striving to outdo each other by promising better accuracy in the user data. A simple quantified self search on Google will bring up countless user reviews providing a comparison of results among the different gadgets. Just check out this user who wore 21 trackers at once, or this man who went on a run with eight trackers. My point is that, with so many choices out there, accuracy is no doubt one of the core differentiating factor when choosing an application or gadget. However, even if you have chosen one, how can you be sure that the data you received is meaningful and accurate? One that is reflective of your environment? In this article, the writer has revealed that the most common mistake that people make when analyzing their self-tracking data is treating it as stationary; that the variables that they track are independent of time, and are affected only by changes in the treatment or routines. However, our health changes in accordance to the weather, our lifestyle and even the time. This writer highlighted three invisible temporal patterns that are likely to be present in your self-tracking data, that if ignored during analysis could lead to counter-productive interpretations. Check this article out to achieve better accuracy in your data!
Read more: Three Temporal Patterns That May Affect Your Quantified Self Insights
Get connected to your family : Life360
How many of you have gone for days without seeing your family members, just because each of you have such busy schedules? I bet most of us do! As we get increasingly busy with our daily lives with school and work, spending time together or even keeping track of each other seems to be harder than before. Sure, we have social media platforms and messaging services to keep each other updated, but sometimes, it can be really mundane having to constantly text or call to update each other manually. So, what if you have an application that can just do this for you automatically? This is what the Life360 application intend to achieve, by functioning as a family network users use to coordinate their daily lives. Besides offering the standard features like location-tracking, check-in (e.g. the “mom, I’m okay” button), geo-fenced alerts, messaging (both one-to-one and group chat), and the emergency/panic button alerting functionality, Life360 also hope to extend their app and become more integrated into the automative and home security systems. Imagine having your home security systems automatically arming the alarm when it detects that no family members are in the house. Or meeting your sister for a cup of coffee simply because the app detects that she is nearby and send you a push notification. We like how the Life 360 plans to integrate extra features into their app, just to offer a seamless family coordination service. With the recent $3 million strategic backing from BMW, we cant wait to see how this application will develop!
Read more: Life360, A Family Networking App With More Users Than Foursquare
Charge up your phone in 30 seconds
In previous twil blog posts, we have shared extensively on possible solutions to achieving longer battery lives. (Remember the Tespack solar panel or the Ambient Backscatter?) Today, we are here to share an amazing innovation created by Khare, an 18 year old student, who invented a way to fully charge a phone battery in one minute. Why are we so obsessed with battery life? Simply because long battery lives are fundamental in lifelogging. It would be counter-productive to have a lifelogging device shut down in the middle of the day because of a flat battery. This is such a breakthrough discovery, and we cant wait to see how this can further benefit the wearable technology industry.
Read more: Student invents a way to fully charge a phone battery in one minute
Finding motivation from within Quantified Apps
With so many choices of self-tracking apps out in the market, tracking our data seems easier than before. However, how many of us can safely say that we diligently use the data given to us to further improve ourselves? Or proudly say that we have consistently stuck to a fitness regime or a mobile fitness application? It is easy to get carried away in our quest to be healthier, but harder to stay with it. So, how can we be more disciplined? According to this article, it is simply by finding the application that fits you best – whether you seek intrinsic or extrinsic motivation. Apps and gadgets can help you stick to a fitness regime, but they only take you so far. There are no one best application that will suit everyone. Like the finishing sentence of this article states, “When it comes to fitness, perhaps we are what we do. Our bodies are programmable. We just have to find the app that lets us log into our true selves.”
Read more: How To Find Motivation In The Machinery
Watch a time-lapse made with Memoto photos
To end off your week, check out this time-lapse video of the Sicilian sunset which was compiled together with pictures taken from the Memoto camera. (We´ve blogged about it in our last weekly update, but we thought it is too cool not to post it again!) How did our team member capture such stable shots? Simply by attaching the camera to a wine bottle and letting the camera work its magic! The shots are taken and easily edited into a time-lapse using iMovie. So, in terms of creativity with the Memoto camera, there are no limits to how you can use it and how you can further use the pictures! Some food for thought, before receiving your camera!
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