Fitbit for a healthier lifestyle

Fitbit looks to be the latest device and web service to assist users in tracking their overall health (physical activity, sleep, and nutrition). Actually I think they should call it the HealthClip because monitoring these metrics does not guarantee a certain level of fitness...bit I digress. In their launch at TechCrunch50, they want to inspire "people to exercise more, eat better and live a healthier lifestyle." Check out after the jump for more images how this device will compare with other accelerometers and physical activity measurement devices.. I think many of us in the physical activity assessment world have been waiting for an affordable device, accelerometer or otherwise, that can validly and reliably capture data and have a smooth user interface (UI). So many of the accelerometers (triaxial, biaxial, unixial), heart rate monitors and pedometers have terrible UI's (or none at all) and are not geared for the user, but the researcher. Besides BodyMedia's re-branding their ArmBand device as BodyBugg, I can't remember the last time I saw a decent attempt to track physical activity with some semblance of thought going into the user's needs and interaction with the device and software application. I know of at least two other companies that have similar products in top-secret development and the Fitbit should give them plenty to think about. This is one device I can't wait to try out!