Technology Assessment Tool

GENERAL

Tracks and Monitors: Activity, Nutrition, and Sleep

Responses:

  • Yes-BS: Tracked automatically with a biosensor; no manual input required
  • Yes-MI: Tracking requires manual user input
  • No: Not measured or tracked with this device

Upload Requirements- Capability:

  • Smartphone: Include iPhone, iPAD, Android, Windows, etc
  • Website: Website data entry possible; Yes/No
  • Mechanism: USB, Bluetooth, Manual entry

Device Information:

  • Size of device to be worn (dimensions)
  • Location worn (pocket, wrist, armband, etc)
  • Colors of device (military acceptable colors?)
  • Battery life

Cost:

  • Cost of device: $XX (rough estimate)
  • Cost of on-line resources/tools: $XX (may be free)
  • Additional biosensors available: list

ACTIVITY:

Tracks: Steps, Stairs, Distance, Calories Burned, Time, Alarm: Yes/No

Motivational Component on the Device: Describe: Flower blooming, colors across the front, motivational messages, music/MP3, etc

Comments: Additional comments

NUTRITION:

Tracks: Weight, BMI, Digital Food Diary, Estimation of Calories Intake, Compares Activity with Food Intake, % Body Fat, Tracking Over Time, Suggested Meal Planner, Body Image Assessment, Website & Mobile, On-line educational Tools: Yes/No

SLEEP:

Tracks: Wrist Worn, Continuous Wear, User Input Start/Stop, Cole-Kripke Algorithm, Off-Wrist Detection, Time/Alarm Clock: Yes/No

Battery Life: Hours/Days/Weeks

Comments: If other than Cole-Kripke provide algorithm information/validation

Reporting of Personal Informatics:

  • Personal Reports Available: Yes/No
  • Data reported: List variables reported/tracked/graphed
  • User interface is interactive: Yes/No
  • User interface allows tracking 24 hour, weekly, monthly: List hourly, daily, weekly, monthly
  • Links to other online tools or apps: Yes/No

Social Networking:

  • Does the system use automation to incentive health (i.e. badges/awards, etc)? Yes/No
  • Does the system generate personal or automated messages (emails, texts, tweets, phone calls, etc)? Yes/No
  • Does the system allow for competitions among friends? Yes/No
  • Does the system allow for competition among groups? Yes/No
  • Does the system allow for group support? Yes/No
  • Does the system allow for shared experience? Yes/No
  • Does the system allow for collective accountability? Yes/No

General Device Information

Device / Tracks and Monitors / Upload Requirements/
Compatibility / Device Information / Cost
Activity / Nutrition / Sleep / Smartphone / Website / Mechanism / Size / Location Worn / Colors / Battery Life / Cost of Device / Cost On-Line Tools (Free?) / Additional Peripheral Devices and Cost
Fitbit One / Yes-BS / Yes-MI / Yes-BS / iPhone, iPod, iPad, Android / Yes / Wireless,Bluetooth / 1.89” .76” .38”
.28 oz / Clip on/ sleep wristband / Black, Burgundy / 5-7 days / $99.95 / Free / Aria Smart Scale - $130
Jawbone UP / Yes-BS / Yes-MI / Yes-BS / iPhone, iPod, iPad / No / USB / Various / Wristband / 8 colors / 10 days / $130 / Free App / None
Nike fuelband / Yes-BS / No / No / iPhone, iPod / Yes / Bluetooth, USB / Various / Wristband / 3 Colors (Black, Black ice, White Ice) / 4 days / $150 / Free / None
Larklife / Yes-BS / Yes-MI / Yes-BS / iPhone, iPod / No / Bluetooth / Various / Wristband / Blue (others shown but not avail?) / 2 days / $150 / Free App / None
Adidas mi-coach / Yes-BS / No / No / iPhone, iPod / Yes / Bluetooth, USB / In shoe, or bundle / Invisible in compatible shoes, or 56x41x17 mm / Black / 8-10 hours / $70 / Free App / Specific shoes, various prices
H.E.A.L.T.H.
/ Yes – MI / Yes-MI / No / iPhone, iPod, Android / Yes / Manual entry / NA / NA / NA / NA / NA / Unknown / Unknown
BodyMedia Fit
/ Yes-BS / Yes-MI / Yes-BS / No (coming soon) / Yes / Bluetooth, USB / 2.6”x1.57”x.67”; 0.6oz / Arm / White / 4-6 days / $119 or $149 / $6.95 monthly / Optional wireless display ($69)
Bodybugg
/ Yes-BS / Yes-MI / No / iPhone, iPod, Android / Yes / Bluetooth, USB / 2.2”x2.4”x.05”; 1.6oz / Arm / Black / 2-4 days / $74.98 / $6.95 / Optional Display $44.98
BASIS
/ Yes-BS / No / Yes-BS / No (coming soon) / Yes / Bluetooth, USB / 10.74”x1.42”x1.06”; 1.55oz / Wrist / Black and White / Up to 4 days / $199 / Unknown / Unknown (May be out of business)
Ki / Yes-BS / Yes-MI / Yes-BS / No / Yes / USB / 1.57”x.75”; 1; 2oz / Arm / Black / 6-12 months / £127.99 / £9.88 – 15.00 per month / No
MotionX Sleep
/ Yes-BS / No / Yes-BS / iPhone, iPod / No / Bluetooth / Only uses iPhone / Wherever cell phone is located / N/A / N/A / $0.99 / Free / iPhone ($199)
Readiband / No / No / Yes-BS / No / No / No / Rubber wristband / Wrist / Black / 30-60 days / Avail for Rent? / N/A / N/A
SleepTracker / No / No / Yes-BS / No / Yes / USB / Wrist Watch / Wrist / Black/ White / 12 Months / $149 / N/A / N/A
WakeMate / No / No / Yes-BS / iPhone, iPod, Android, Blackberry / Yes / Via Smartphone App / Wristband / Wrist / Black / 24 hours / $59.99 / Free / N/A
Bite Counter
/ No / Yes-BS / No / No / No / USB / 1.7”x1.7”x0.5”; 0.9oz / Wrist / Black / 14 hours / $799 / N/A / N/A
Weight Watchers Online / Yes-MI / Yes-MI / No / Yes / Yes / Manual entry / N/A / N/A / N/A / N/A / N/A / $5/week or $18.95/ month / Meetings - $48.95 for 1st meeting, $18.95/ month after that
Calorie King
/ Yes-MI / Yes-MI / No / Yes-MI / Yes-MI / Manual entry / N/A / N/A / N/A / N/A / N/A / $49/year / Multiple devices can be purchased
SuperTracker
/ Yes-MI / Yes-MI / No / No / Yes-MI / Manual entry / N/A / N/A / N/A / N/A / N/A / Free / N/A
Zeo Sleep Manager
/ No / No / Yes / iPhone and Android phones with 2.1 and above / Yes – BS / Bluetooth / 2.1 x 1.3 x 0.5" / Head / Black / Unknown / $99- $129 / Free / Bedside Manager ($149)
Lose It!
/ Yes-MI / Yes-MI / No / iOS, Android, Nook, Kindle / Yes / Manual entry, Bluetooth, USB / N/A / N/A / N/A / N/A / N/A / Free? / Multiple peripherals
myfitnesspal / Yes-MI / Yes-MI / No / iOS, Android / Yes / Manual entry / N/A / N/A / N/A / N/A / N/A / Free / N/A
Sparkpeople
/ Yes-MI / Yes-MI / No / iOS, Android, Blackberry / Yes / Manual entry / N/A / N/A / N/A / N/A / N/A / Free / N/A

Activity

Activity - Biosensors
Device / Steps / Stairs / Distance / Calories Burned / Time / Alarm / Motivational Components on the Device / Comments
Fitbit / Yes / Yes / Yes / Yes / Yes / Yes / Achievement Badges, alerts, stat emails / Can also compete with friends
Jawbone UP / Yes / No / Yes / Yes / Yes / Yes / Coaching, idle alert / Power nap, and mood features
Larklife / Yes / No / Yes / Yes / Yes / Yes / Expert coaching in all areas / Also has productivity features such as taking breaks
H.E.A.L.T.H. / Yes / Yes / Yes / Yes / Yes / NA / No personalized coaching but could easily be added; has articles and information; Goal tracking / Not wearable device – diary entry via web or app; could be integrated with actigraphy device.Allows for tracking of APFT. Built with soldier use in mind in appearance and use of AR600-9 metrics
BodyMedia Fit / Yes / No / No / Yes / Yes / Yes / Shows graphs and progress towards goal / Has reminders for exercise, sleep, etc.;
Bodybugg / Yes / No / No / Yes / Unknown / Unknown / Unknown / Mostly about knowing how many calories you burn
BASIS / Yes / Unknown / Unknown / Yes / Yes / Unknown / Yes - Web tool/dashboard
Ki / Yes / No / No / Yes / Yes / No / No
MotionX / Yes / No / Yes / No / Yes / Yes / Can share tracks through social media / Application based GPS integrated with maps
Weight Watchers / Unknown / Unknown / Unknown / Unknown / Unknown / Unknown / Unknown / Don’t have access to the online tools to assess exactly what they measure but claim to measure activity, calories burned, etc
Calorie King / Yes / Yes / Yes / Yes / Yes / Unknown / Through Communities on Website / Allows for tracking of exercise, not exactly sure what or to what level it can track; manual entry into website
SuperTracker / Yes / Yes / Yes / Yes / Yes / No / No / Manually enter all information into Website; Program created by USDA
Lose It! / Yes / Yes / Yes / Yes / Yes / Unknown / Set Goals; Support Community; / Manual entry of information; also connects to other tracking devices to collect information;
myfitnesspal / Unknown / Unknown / Unknown / Unknown / Unknown / Unknown / Discussion forums / Not much information provided on the website except that one can track activity on the Web
Sparkpeople / Unknown / Unknown / Yes / Yes / Yes / No / Through a Community including Challenges, Message Boards, Blogs, etc / Must manually enter distance and time and then it is added to the tracker

Nutrition

Nutritional Applications
Device / Weight / Height & BMI / Digital Food Diary / Estimation of Calories Intake / Compares Activity with Food Intake; Prescribed Calorie Goals / % Body Fat / Tracking Over Time / Suggested Meal Planner / Body Image Assessment / Website, Mobile, etc / On-Line Educational Tools / Comments
Fitbit / With Ariawi-fi smart scale / With Aria, or manual entry / Phone App and Web / Yes / Yes / With Aria / Yes / Yes / Yes / Yes / Yes / Reviews indicate that the food library is not robust, but app integration solves this problem (LOSE IT! App)
Jawbone UP / No / No / Yes / Yes / Yes / No / Yes / Yes / No / Yes / Yes / Allows flexibility and picture taking with respect to food
Larklife / No / No / Basic / Yes / Yes / No / Yes / Yes / No / Mobile / Updates to Coaching / Basic food info, but very easy to input.
H.E.A.L.T.H. / Yes / No / Yes / Yes / Yes / Yes / Yes / Yes / No / Yes / Yes / Very easy to use diary entry for nutrition tracking and fitness. Does not currently have devices attached but they could easily be added. Built with soldier use in mind in appearance and use of AR600-9 metrics
BodyMedia Activity Manager / Yes / Yes / Yes / Yes / Yes / No / Yes / No / No / Yes / Unknown / Can have predefined meals; can add daily estimated calories if you don’t add food intake one day or use three day average for your goals; goal tracking
Bodybugg / Yes / Yes / Yes / Yes / Yes / No / Yes / Unknown / No / Yes / Yes / Large food database, restaurants selections; Not much information on their online Website
Ki / Yes / Yes / Yes / Yes / Yes / No / Yes / Unknown / No / Yes / Yes / Appears to use BodyMedia online dashboard; food database is based on UK food list
MotionX / No / No / No / No / No / No / No / No / No / No / No / Not the intention of this app
Bite Counter / No / No / No / No / No / No / Yes / No / No / No / No / Counts bites and tracks the number of bites taken over time on PC based SW
Weight Watchers / Yes / Yes / Yes / Unknown / Yes (points instead of calories) / Unknown / Yes / Yes / Unknown / Yes / Yes / Uses a point system to determine what can be eaten
Calorie King / Yes / Unknown / Yes / Yes / Yes / Unknown / Yes / Yes / Unknown / Yes / Yes / Not sure they have an app version for mobile phones
Supertracker / Yes / Height but not BMI / Yes / Yes / Yes / No / Yes / Yes / No / Web / Yes / Not sure they have an app version for mobile phones
Lose it! / Yes / Yes / Yes / Yes / Yes / Unknown / Yes / Unknown / Yes / Unknown / Can scan food bar codes
My Fitness Pal / Yes / Yes / Yes / Yes / Yes / Unknown / Yes / Unknown / Unknown / Yes / Unknown
Sparkpeople / Yes / Yes / Yes / Unknown / Yes / Unknown / Yes / Yes / Unknown / Yes / Yes

Sleep

Sleep - Biosensors
Device / Wrist Worn / Continuous Wear / Battery Life / Device Requires User Input to Start/Stop Sleep / Cole-Kripke Sleep/Wake Scoring Algorithm / Off-wrist detection Capability / Time & Alarm Clock / Comments
Fitbit / At Night / Yes / 5-7 days / Yes / Unknown/ Proprietary / Yes / Yes / Tracks proprietary sleep effectiveness; Device comes with a sleep wristband and must be wrist worn at night
Jawbone UP / Yes / Yes / 10 days / Intelligent / Unknown/ Proprietary / No / Yes / Tracks proprietary sleep effectiveness; Worn the same way 24/7
Larklife / Yes / Yes / 2 days / Different wristband / Unknown/ Proprietary / No / Yes / Provide “Expert Coaching”; Must be connected to wristband to work
BodyMedia Activity Manager / No (Arm) / Yes / 4-6 days / No / No / No / No / Device must be placed on upper arm. Device claims to track sleep quality and quantity automatically
BASIS / Yes / Yes / Up to 4 days / No / Unknown/ Proprietary / No / Unknown / Tracks duration, times awoken, sleep quality
Ki / No (Arm) / Yes / 6-12 months / Unknown / Unknown/ Proprietary / No / No / Tracks Duration, Patterns & Proprietary Efficiency
MotionX / No / No / N/A / Yes. Input heart rate through camera / Unknown/ Proprietary / N/A / Yes / Tracks Proprietary Sleep effectiveness; Device produces white noise or music which fades as sleep onset is detected. Wakes user within a time window advertised as during lightest sleep
Readiband / Yes / Yes / 30-60 days / No / Company’s algorithm/ Proprietary / Yes / Time only / No alarm clock
Sleep Tracker / Yes / No / 12 Months / Yes / Unknown/ Proprietary / No / Yes / Small Memory Capacity/ Primary use is a wrist worn alarm clock. There is no indication of data output.
WakeMate/MiLife+ / Yes / No / 24 Hours / Unknown / Unknown/ Proprietary / Unknown / Unknown / Loose fit could affect accuracy (unknown)
Zeo Sleep Manager / No / No / Unknown / No / Unknown / N/A / No / Advertises to record REM and Deep sleep then provides feedback on how to improve numbers

Reporting of Personal Informatics

Reporting of Personal Informatics
Device / Reports Available / Type of Data Reported / Interactive User Interface / Time Tracked (hourly, daily, weekly, monthly) / Links to other online tools or apps / Comments
Fitbit / Yes / Activity, food, water, weight, etc.. / Yes / Hourly, lifetime trends / Integrated with: Lose It!, Run Keeper, Map My Fitness, My Fitness Pal, Endomondo, Spark People / App integration allows this tool to be used to monitor a growing list of activities
Jawbone UP / Yes / Activity, Nutrition, Sleep / Yes / Hourly, lifetime trends / Only with UP 2.0 app / Limited app selection, open sourcing would make it better
Larklife / Yes / Full Larklife 7 day assessment / Yes / 7 Day assessment / Only with Larklife tools / Limited to only Larklife
H.E.A.L.T.H / Yes / Activity, Nutrition / No / Daily, 14 day, 28 day / No / Has good summary reports;diary entry via web or app; has graphs for weight, calories burned, food intake, and APFT history
BodyMedia Activity Manager / Yes / Activity, Nutrition, Sleep / No / Hourly, daily, trends / No / Seems to be positioned mainly for weight loss; Most everything they do is geared towards monitoring how many calories were burned.
Bodybugg / Yes / Activity, Nutrition / Unknown / Unknown / No / Not much information on their Web tool
BASIS / Yes / Activity, Sleep / Yes / Unknown / Unknown / Limited information on dashboard available
Ki / Yes / Activity, Nutrition, Sleep / Yes / Hourly, daily, etc / No / Web tool looks like BodyMedia tool
MotionX / Yes / Sleep Graph/ 7 day assessment / Yes / Hourly/ weekly trends / Mobile application
Bite Counter / Yes / Bites per day and time / No / Daily / No / Limited interactions; calendar view of bites
Weight Watchers / Yes / Unknown / Yes / Unknown / Unknown / Don’t have access to the online tools to assess exactly what is reported and what is tracked over time
Calorie King / Yes / Calories burned, activity / Yes / Daily / No
SuperTracker / Yes / Activity, Nutrition / No / Daily, weekly, trends / No
Lose It! / Yes / Activity, Nutrition / Yes / Hourly, Daily, Weekly, Monthly / Yes / Integrates with most popular health and fitness devices and apps;
myfitnesspal / Unknown / Activity, Nutrition / Unknown / Unknown / Yes / Provide an App gallery but do not provide information about whether they connect to those Apps or devices
SparkPeople / Yes / Activity, Nutrition / Unknown / Unknown / Unknown / Website does not provide much information without creating an account

Social Networking

Social Networking (With Enhanced Relationships)
Device / Incentives / Automated Messages / Competition Friends / Competition Groups / Group Support / Shared Experience / Collective Accountability / Comments
Fitbit / Badges / Yes / Yes / Yes / Yes / Yes / Yes / Friends must have same app, would be better with social media/ non device specific integration
Jawbone UP / Motivation / No / No / No / No / No / No / No competition except with yourself
Larklife / Activity Lights / Yes / No / No / No / No / No / Goal to fill up activity monitor throughout the day
H.E.A.L.T.H / No / No / No / No / No / No / No
BodyMedia Activity Manager / No / No / No / No / No / Yes (Facebook) / No / Can share to Facebook
Bodybugg / No / No / No / No / No / No / No / Has a Facebook page where users can go for support, to share stories, etc
BASIS / Yes / Yes / No / No / No / No / No
Ki / No / No / No / No / No / Unknown / No / Since it appears to be the BodyMedia dashboard, probably can also link to Facebook
Motion X / Coach / Yes / No / No / No / No / No / Goal to is increase sleep effectiveness and promote activity
Bite Counter / No / Alarms / No / No / No / No / No / User can custom programa count-based alarm buzzer as a cue to stop eating
Weight Watchers / Yes / Unknown / Unknown / Unknown / Unknown / Unknown / Unknown / Don’t have access to the online tools to assess exactly what is reported and what is tracked over time
Calorie King / Unknown / Yes / No / No / Yes / Yes / Unknown / Has Community Support, blogs and forums on website
SuperTracker / No / Yes / No / No / No / No / No / Have a virtual coach
Lose It! / No / Yes / Yes / Yes / Yes / Yes / Unknown
myfitnesspal / Yes / Unknown / Unknown / Unknown / Unknown / Yes / Unknown
SparkPeople / Unknown / Unknown / Yes / Yes / Yes / Yes / Unknown / Can add people to your page to provide support; They offer SparkPeople challenges