UP is a small, sensor-loaded wristband that you’re expected to wear more or less all the time, so it can track your movements, sleep habits, and, via a companion app, nutrition, helping you fend off heart disease, diabetes, and other lifestyle-related issues just by having it on.
It was on the front page, but I was wondering what you thought about it ? Beginning of viable bio-sensors or gimmick ?
There are two comments on the core77 page for this, both are really negative. I don’t see how you can have a negative opinion of something that has not even come out yet. I think it’s an interesting concept, and it could be very cool. It all depends on how accurate it is and how detailed the info it reads is. This is different then those powerbands which claim to help. This only claims to give you information and then what you do with that info is up to you.
It seems to promise a lot, and looks uncomfortable to have on 24/7 (basically required to get max utility). Aesthetically, I think it’s beautiful, but there realy isn’t a whole lot of information to form a decision right now. I’m expecting something that’s sexy, overpriced, and works moderately okay (as is true of my past experiences with Jawbone products).
@Tarngerine
Everything I have read about it stresses the fact that this will be affordable.
It’s not wireless, you have to connect via usb to download data so I guess that brings the cost down.
I dont think it would be any more uncomfortable than a watch, It looks light and I assume its adjustable.
Have you seen the huge bangles girls wear ?? haha
How can it not be wireless, isn’t that what jawbone is all about?
I’m super interested in how it does. I’ll be checking it out when it comes outfit sure. Designers love to make concepts of this kind of thing, these guys seedling it. I’m sure it will have a lot of things that need improvement as do all “firsts”. Personally, I am not a fan of the aesthetic as I don’t think it is talismanic of the invisible properties of the device… I.E. It is not special enough.
@mrtwills
USB cable plugs into silver bit. I think they wanted to keep the size and cost down.
@yo
As all the other jawbone products come in many different finishes/materials, Im certain there will be a range of options for this too, a bracelet is more personal than a headset so they will have to offer some individuality.
I quite like the look of that texture though.
My guess it will work as well and accurate as a Nintendo Wii/Gameboy/DS game health tracking device would, which is better then basics but not for die-hard health fanatics.
Looks similar to the FitBit in concept which always seemed like a great idea. http://www.fitbit.com
Unfortunately design-wise, the JawBone version looks like a flexible ruler, even the similar color.
Quite simple. They make a claim - “Welcome to a healthier you.”
If this were a medical device or drug, they would have to prove that claim. They would have to define healthier and do a study in which people using that drug or device actually get healthier. That study would have to be done before the launch of the product and before their claim of, “Welcome to a healthier you.”
But this is not a medical device or drug. They do not need to prove their claim. Their marketing department can say just about anything they want. How exactly is that different from a snake oil salesman?
Any comments about the design Iab?
Just wearing it will be a visual reminder for people to think about what they are eating or how much exercise they are doing. The data it records will probably show some progression if the user develops healthier habits. Its not going to make you healthy by wearing it but it encourages a better lifestyle.
I think market for “Health+Well being+Fitness” products is especially ripe right now. The concept for this kind of persistent, passive tracking is spot on.
There’s a lot of promise in their marketing literature so I’m very curious to see how they achieve it and what the on-screen stuff looks like.
I think the physical design is about right. It’s pretty simple, but changing colors and finishes is where it’ll get it’s legs. You can choose kabalah string red silver or something more subdued.
I think you guys are overlooking the trends in self data tracking. This behavior is growing. Things like Nike+ and fitnit have done well and this is the next natural extention. Whether it works or not is up to the wearer, but it should provide some insightful data and for those that respond well to game based behavior change I think it could work.
As a designer, and gym owner - I’m also interested in these products. While anything that keeps one’s interest on health and fitness is good - I do feel like these devices can’t work that great, and are mostly a gimmick / techno fad. But if it brings more fitness to the geek crowd - they will have done their job. I would agree we are in a Health + Fitness up trend, and anything new on the market will be a hit (shake weight).
Wearing it can be a reminder.
The data of its use can change behavior.
It doesn’t mean it will. That is why you put this on a lot of people. You measure their compliance of using this device and compare to any health gains or losses (lower weight, lower blood pressure, lower cholesteral, etc.) You measure any of the short term gains and long term gains. You compare that to a control group or a placebo and make conclusions. You then base any claim like “Welcome to a healthier you.”
Without the data, you have a meaningless promise. I don’t have a problem with that with most products, baby needs a new pair of shoes in the marketing department too. I do have a problem with that when it comes to people’s health. The FDA is a bureaucratic nightmare. But they do make sure what you use for your health has efficacy and is safe.
As far as the design,
The square edges look like they can twist, dig into my wrist and become uncomfortable.
A non-wireless version will lower compliance and efficacy.
I have no idea what they are measuring but at least a pedometer can give you objective data - how many steps/miles did you do today. If this thing goes off because I have the jimmy-leg, I don’t know what use that would be.
For the aesthetics, it looks cheap, a cross between these two things, I hope their price point isn’t past $19.95.
I was also immediately reminded of the blue flexible ruler, I don’t think it’s objectionably bad and most of my comments would be around how it felt to wear all day (as many are speculating here) my concerns would be around how tight the fit was, IE is this thing gonna move around on my arm when I’m wearing it or is it going to largely stay in place? I don’t think the edges (it being square) are going to be an issue, the interior corners are rounded and the contact surface is an elastomer.
I guess one of my biggest interests in this is how the Jawbone Brand is evolving.
At first it was wireless headsets, then they added the Jambox, which is also an Audio peripheral, now there is UP which is not about audio at all, but is still a peripheral. I guess I am wondering what the long term brand strategy is, as this starts to add a little cloudiness to my understanding of what Jawbone is/does, on the other hand maybe they feel their competencies lie in peripherals and are trying to extend into more lifestyle products.
The brand aspect is super interesting to me. My first gut reaction was why would I trust this from this brand…but the more I thought about it, the ore it made sense to create something for a brand that has desirability so people would actually wear it, vs a brand that has trust but less interest.
The design itself feels a bit odd to me the way the sections transition. I wish it felt a bit more like this, but I like Hermes too much:
Physical motion is a great additional piece of information to have available. This concept is right on and similar concepts are going to be integrated all over. We are working on several now.
The Fitbit is quite clear about it tracking deep sleep patterns. That is an interesting part of the information to me. Since it has to be worn at night, it better not accidentally damage the person you are in bed with. I have to remove my watch nightly for that reason. The sharp edges on the design of the Up look uncomfortable for 24 hour wear. Metal decoluxury bits add nothing to the health concept and make it specific for daytime show wear. Health, sport and motion imply seamless transition and waterproof materials.
Interesting what is already going on in the sphere of personal motion records privacy.
We take the privacy of all Fitbit users very seriously. To address some recent concerns about logged activities of Fitbit users showing up in search engine results, we have taken several immediate steps.
Some quick background:
As you know, Fitbit users can decide voluntarily to log their physical activities. You must do this manually and this information is not collected automatically.
When setting up their profiles, users have had the option to make their profile activity records private, though the default setting has been to make this information public.
As of Sunday, we have taken the following steps to protect our users’ privacy:All activity records on Fitbit.com were hidden from view from both other users and search engines, no matter what the user’s current privacy setting. We have also updated our default settings for new users for activity sharing to “private.”
We submitted requests to Google and Yahoo/Bing to remove any indexed user profile pages from their search engines. As a result, user profile pages and their activity records have already disappeared from Google and should disappear within several days at other search engines. Once removed, previously indexed activity records should not be accessible to the public at all from that search engine.
For now, we have removed other personally identifiable information from users’ Fitbit profile pages regardless of privacy settings.
We are dedicated to making this the best fitness platform possible with users in full control of their data. For many people, sharing information is an important motivator for them to achieve their fitness goals. We will be in touch with our users about new choices they will have when they want to share information.
Well they are not snake oil salesman if it actually works. Right now, there is no info to tell either way. All we can go off of now is their “claim”. If it’s junk it’s junk, a million products claim to be more then they are. And in fitness and health, this is more true then anything, just check the Saturday morning infomercials for the latest ab machine that will give you a six pack w/0 sweating. “welcome to a healthier you” is just a tag line, it’s not really saying much.
There is not much info on this at all. I have not read anywhere it’s “not” wireless nor have I read it “is” wireless. I thought maybe it plugs directly into your phone via mini usb but that won’t work for iphone. Seems lame to have to plug into your computer, then sync to your phone, that so 2009:)