For a long time, consumer electronics has been largely to blame for our increasingly sedentary lifestyles. We spend hours at our computers, in front of the TV and playing videos games, and physical activity has dwindled. Then the Wii came out, followed by fitness electronics like Nike+ or the Fitbit, and we started getting off our butts to use our gadgets.
One of the more intriguing entries into this field is the Wi-Fi-enabled Withings scale, which some have used to automatically tweet their weight to the world. Such public accountability may have actually motivated some to lose weight.
Today at CES in Las Vegas, Withings announced an interesting partnership, combining its Wi-Fi-enabled scale with the biggest culprit of anti-fitness propaganda in our homes – the living room TV. That’s right. Withings and Panasonic have teamed up to bring your “Withings health dashboard” to VIERA Connect-enabled high-definition televisions.
“Making your health data as easily accessible as possible is a key feature of the Wi-Fi Body Scale. Now, you can access all your information via your Mac, PC, mobile device or television,” says Withings co-founder Cedric Hutchings. Now your physical fitness isn’t just auto-blasted to the Twittersphere, it’s on display for your family to gawk at as well!
This partnership is likely one of many “Internet of Things” innovations we may find at CES this year. And as with the Wi-Fi Scale, these devices all lead to one thing: public accountability. As game designer and former Disney Imagineer Jesse Schell said in his DICE talk almost a year ago, accountability could make the world a better place.
“And you get to thinking about how, wow, is it possible maybe that – since all this stuff is being watched and measured and judged, that maybe I should change my behavior a little bit and be a little better than I would have been?”
Either that, or everyone will know you’re out of shape. At least you’ll be in HD. Here’s to a CES full of Internet-connected devices!
