Gamer Health Record (GHR) debuts as Kinect PlayFit to track exergaming calories

Launching today on Xbox Live is a free new downloadable dashboard for Xbox LIVE members. Kinect PlayFit is hoping to be a stepping stone to the Holy Grail of the Quantified-Self movement as it will track the time and calories you burn while playing exergames like Dance Central 2 and Your Shape Fitness Evolved 2012. Indeed it is the first time a major console will integrate fitness tracking across games as previously it only existed in game info from games like DDR, EA SPORTS Active, and EyeToy Kinetic. 

Exergaming Points to Ponder (ExP2P)

If more developers make user-generated data available to the dashboard - we might be witnessing the start of something incredible as a health application, research tool, and social engagement tracker. Some might say that the gamification of this data is not enough, but it just might be once they pair the Joule Heart rate monitor, mobile phone, and other motion trackers to this Gamer Health Record as predicted by many including Ben Sawyer at the Games for Health project. This is truly a step in the right direction, now if we can only get all the makers to use similar or standardized caloric expenditure guidelines to make the tracking more reliable and consistent.

• Kinect PlayFit is a new fitness dashboard that aggregates and tracks the calories you burn as you play a variety of Kinect games, from “Dance Central 2” to “Your Shape Fitness Evolved 2012” to “Kinect Star Wars.”
• Kinect PlayFit lets you view your personal stats over time and see leaderboards that show how you rank against Xbox LIVE members across the globe. Get credit for the calories you burn while having fun with Kinect, and earn Kinect PlayFit Achievements, Gamerscore and Avatar Awards.

Kinect PlayFit inspires an active and healthy lifestyle through fun and play:

• First of Its Kind – This is the first ever fitness tracking application on a video game console.
• Social Motivation – Kinect PlayFit keeps it social with activity challenges, rankings on leaderboards and integration with the Xbox LIVE community to break a sweat together.
• Survey Says – According to a recent survey (presumably the UnitedHealthcare study) *nearly 75 percent of respondents believe that video games should include a component that encourages physical activity. Also, 70 percent said that physically active video games can complement or supplement traditional exercise.

Click here to explore more of ExerGame Lab's archived posts involving Kinect PlayFit.