Lifelogging
Do you know how many steps you went yesterday? Do you know how many glasses of water you drank last Monday? Do you know how well you slept today?
I know. We are now living in times where almost everything can be measured, saved and compared later. And I’m not saying about some specialist equipment. We can do all these things by ourselves.
Nowadays there is a popular a trend called lifelogging. It concerns everything that collects information about our daily activities. Mobile apps for instance. We bring our smartphones literally everywhere so gathering the information isn’t a difficult task for them. What is more, if you do some sport and you don’t want to run with a huge 5 or more inch smartphone strapped to your arm you can always buy a smaller, wearable device like a band or a watch. Possibilities are endless. Every big company has to follow trends to be competitive on the market so all of them have gadgets used to measure almost every aspect of your life in their portfolio.
Source: www.engadget.com
Some people say that this trend is unnecessary or even wrong. In their opinion we shouldn’t let others (producers of apps and gadgets) know about every step we take. But let’s think about it.
What is wrong with checking the amount of eaten calories during the day or monitoring the weight to keep fit? MyFitnessPal is now the most popular application which lets you set up your diet goal, note what you eat, when you eat and how much. It just helps you monitor your diet, that’s it.
Another situation is when you do some sport like running. Is it bad to use Endomondo to track a route? Or to check your speed? Or to tell your friends about your new record? What if you have a watch on your wrist that measures your pulse which you can check later to see when you got tired?
Source: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.endomondo.android
Even if you don’t do any sport it’s good for your health to move a little bit. With a simple band on your wrist or again - a mobile app installed on your smartphone - you can check how many steps you have done today. Maybe it’s not enough? Maybe you can get off the bus one bus stop earlier and go for a walk.
Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GAb44Zyuxbs
It’s good that we have become more conscious of our daily activities and behavior. On the other hand, I must agree that there are a few absolutely ridiculous products on the market which I want to present to you.
There is an app used to count how many glasses of water you have drunk during the day and if it’s not enough it sends you a reminder. Do you really need that kind of information? Do you have to have an app which tells you that you should now drink something? Event if you don’t feel thirsty?
Another great example is an app with a compatible… fork. Yes, the fork. The main purpose of it is to measure the speed of your eating. I have no idea how I could use the information that I eat with the speed of 3 forks/minute. Additionally, there should be a spoon included. What if I eat only soups? I will miss much valuable data.
Source: http://designsekcja.pl/inteligentny-widelec/
To sum up, lifelogging isn’t a bad trend. It can be very useful in many ways supporting our training, diet or just giving us information to change slightly our daily habits, to become more active.
Do you log your life? Do you use any app or device for it? Share your experience in comments!
The first thing I must say about your presentation is that it’s beautiful! Nice, clean, “slick” – I wish that all other would look like yours! But it’s not only about the beauty, but content as well and it’s also very, very nice!
ReplyDeleteThe topic, as you already wrote is very trendy right now. Even I used to be part of “AppSlaves”, while training. During HIIT training it’s important to pay attention to your pace and duration of your sprint/jog, so rather than looking at the watch all the time (which would be rather uncomfortable) I used this app: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.caynax.hiit, which picked different songs for different parts of training. For warming up it served me slower ones, for sprint those with highest tempo possible (beats per minute) and then different of jog phase and cooling down and stretching. Of course I could pick only sound signals to know when to start each phase, but I enjoy running with music. Currently I do not work with HIIT anymore, but I daily try to train my brain with Elevate app (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.wonder). Each day I get three sets of tasks and quizzes to solve. This app helps improve language skills, reading, math etc. I have been playing with that for couple of months and I must say that I read and count faster, it boosted my vocabulary. I also enjoy testing myself, so it’s win-win situation.
As for your examples – I think that app for counting amount of water is for people, who tend to become dehydrated or have very strict diet. It’s not perfect, but maybe it helps them to deal with this issue? And for the “fork app” I think I know the purpose of it. The longer you eat, the less you eat it’s a fact, because your body has more time to digest each piece of your meal. It’s also very good to chew as much as possible, because not only it tricks your brain, but helps your digestive system as well: http://flatulencecures.com/eating-too-fast-causes-flatulence.
I don’t mind my friends publishing all their achievements, until it’s not too insolent. http://southpark.cc.com/clips/2hlbyd/take-that-shit-off-speakerphone
Thank you for such kind words about my presentation! I'm glad that you were interested in the topic of lifelogging. Your comment was the first one so it was really nice to read it at the beginning :) Thanks again!
DeleteI've already installed Elevate and I must admit it's great. It has a simple and clear interface which makes it user friendly. And the concept of brain training is quite new for me, I wasn't familiar with this kind of exercises.
This elevate app is quite nice. I need to try it, first look is awsome. Cant wait to have other languages in this app. I realy like it. Thanks
DeleteDo you log your life?
ReplyDeleteI'm not a fan. I don't see a reason to measure everything. In normal cases there is no need to do that, it's useful in case of illness.
Do you use any app or device for it?
I've application called Health on my iphone, it's installed by default, and I don't really use it that often. That app has many functionalities, but I use only stepometer, which shows me how many steps I've done per day.
I see :) I've also started my 'lifelogging thing' with this app. It was great to see the results, that I decided to buy a band which also analyzes my sleep cycle. Maybe in the near future smartwatches will become so popular that you will start using them as natural as a smartphones, so lifelogging will become more natural for you, not only in the case of illnesses. Anyway, thanks for your opinion! :)
DeleteI lought about this kind of apps. First think about how and this app?! but after I read about why peoples use it and what results they have I was realy supprised. With this sleep cycle app you can watch how many hours you sleep, you can record sound when you sleep and app will tell you when you sleep better and when not. This app can tell you when you should sleep more or when you will have bad day.
DeleteThis can be realy helpfull if you want you know much more about yourself and how you can beat your waekness. You should realy read about what reviews said aboy this app.
Do you log your life?
ReplyDeleteI using Endomondo when i runggin and cycling. I see my training results (result od burdned calories is always big motivation :O)
I try to lead a healthy lifestyle , so I dream to have such a thing is MiBand . I want to control my life perfectly (how many calories I burned ,what and how much i ate )
Application that counts how many glasses of water drunk is not funny application. It is very useful . People forget to drink clean water. We choose tea, coffee and juice , and really only pure water can us well hydrated . Apparently a glass of water every hour can lengthen our lives for 20 years! I want this app!
I agree with you :) Knowing how many bars of chocolate I've just burned is very motivating :D
DeleteIf you want a MiBand so badly maybe you can suggest someone a perfect Christmas gift for you ;) Few weeks ago was launched a new version of it with a heart rate monitor: http://www.wareable.com/xiaomi/xiaomi-mi-band-1s-specs-price-release-date-1330
I didn't expect such interest about this app reminding you to drink water during the day. It's called Hydro Coach and here is the link if you want to give it a try: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.codium.hydrocoach
I realy like to use app for my personal budget. I always forget and dont know where my money goes but when I start to write this informations everyday in appthis change a lot. I like to have information how many money I spend on alcohol, on regular bils and other staff. I like to have this in controll becouse sometimes it can be realy stressfull
ReplyDeleteI was doing the same thing with my budget but I couln't find any good app for that. What is more it requires a lot of patience and regularity to enter every expense and after a month I was just discouraged.
DeleteBands are great! They are small and comfortable. I tested one band, created by Microsoft and I was delighted with it. It helps to analyze and monitor our activity, it shows how many calories we burned and how many kilometers we traveled. There is also ability to monitor the quality of our sleep and special training modes, in wich we can see our heart rate, the amount of burned fat and carbohydreates. If our training took place outdoor, the band additionally shows us the details of the route traveled, achived speeds in running training or cycling. It is so amazing. This band should be used with application called „Health” but it is not required. When we use it with the application, all collected data is sent from band to application and the „Health” systematizes, analyzes and presents data in the form of graphs broken down by days. We will find out how many steps we have done. The band has really a lot of helpful functions but that what amazed me the most is sleep monitor. We just have to wear the band for the night and turn the sleep mode. But even if we forgot to turn this mode on, the band after a while will realize that we are sleeping and will automatically switch to this mode. In sleep mode, the band measures the length of our stay in bed broken down on the time needed to fall asleep and the length of the stages of sleep.
ReplyDeleteI recommend to all band this type, not only the bands but all “smart” and “wearable” gadgets. They are very useful and we can easier lead a healthy lifestyle.
Yay! :D You love gadgets as much as I do! :D I also think that bands are great. I'm testing now a smartwatch from Motorola. It's quite heavy and I hate to charge it every night - my band works for about 30 days. Can you tell me the name of the band you tested? Because I'm not familiar with any band produced by Microsoft.
DeleteIt is just called Microsoft Band :) Recently, Microsoft produced new version of this band - Microsoft Band 2, I have tested the first one, but I think that the major difference is the appearance. Though I could be wrong because I had no opportunity to test the new version yet :)
DeleteThanks for the answer. It looks really nice but $250 for the second generation? I don't think I can afford it :) I will wait till wearable devices become more popular and cheaper.
DeleteJust like Elzbieta wrote: I am also not a big fan of that kind of application, but even though there are some, which I am using. Some even very often, such as fast reading, and app called Einstein which brings many mini games to develop your mind. I am not running a lot, but when I do, I use Endomondo - it's very helpful to increase trainings and put new woodworks. I also used app named "100 pompek" to start doing exercises at home. I can say that the results were pretty good. I have been increasing my results week by week.
ReplyDeleteOverall, maybe I am not a big fan of that kind of app - which makes you spend more time on mobile, but I find it also very useful in many cases.
I want also relate to your opinion about water app. I disagree with you. I know some people, who use this app in their medical cases, and it helps them not to forget about hydrating their body.
Thank you for mentioning some new examples of lifelogging apps. I didn't know about Einstein but it's another app with brain training exercises so these kind of apps are becoming quite popular nowadays. If you didn't read earlier posts Jakub presented an Elevate app with is very similar to Einstein but I think the Elevate's interface is much nicer.
DeleteActually I do not use this apps. Although I do not deny using them. For example for sport passionates Endomondo app or simplier app for counting steps will be a great and interesting thing.
ReplyDeleteThere was a time when I tried to use "Sleep as Android" app (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.urbandroid.sleep&hl=pl) but it was few years ago when there was yet no devices like MiBand and in my opinion sleeping with a smartphone in bed is not a good idea so I uninstalled it. That is interesting application which analyzes your sleeping cycle and tries to wake up you in the
best moment. Maybe i will buy a band and give a second chance for this.
Also due to Jakub post I will probably give a try for Elevate app :)
Few years ago I also tried to use Sleep as Android but it ends just like in your case :) I found it very inconvenient to keep my phone in bed connected to the charger (this app drains battery a lot so you have to charge your phone during the night). I uninstalled the app and forget about the subject of analyzing my sleep cycle. But few months ago I bought a MiBand and it's great for this purpose. It's small and light so you don't feel it at all. I highly recommend this product :)
DeleteAs like Ela and Maciej Piotrowski I am not a fan of using applacations for lifelogging. I don't like when a device gathers information about me. Moreover we are living in a such computerised world that I am afraid that information collected by apps will used in the future against me. Most people like to share their life with others. They publish information from lifelogging apps on facebook. I don't understand that behaviour. What would be a reason for giving other people information about yourselves for example how many kilometers you ran yesterday.
ReplyDeleteGloating gives short term satisfaction but poses risks in the unforseen future. People could hate us for spamming their facebook timeline. I have an application "Zdrowie" in my cell phone, but I've never used it and intend to keep it this way.
I get your point. I also think that giving to much information about us to the public can just expose us to potential risk. There was a video in which a guy showed how to track a person based on her or his Facebook profile. And he really could find any person within few minutes and tell her or him the most important information from their life. But how it can harm me to track the amount of steps I made or how well I sleept? As it goes to limit the spam on your Facebook timeline you can just mark that you don't want to receive any information from that person and problem is solved :)
DeleteHello, thank you for a great article!
ReplyDeleteI have Microsoft Band (you can find the information about device here:
https://www.microsoft.com/microsoft-band/en-us) and I am very pleased with it.
Band is tracking my steps during the day, it also measure my pulse and even how good enough I have slept!
Of course for the device there is dedicated application for all three main mobile platforms: Windows Phone, Android and iOS.
I think that such devices are great for people who have active lifestyle.
Thanks for kind words about my article :)
DeleteI think that the main advantage of this band isn't neither tracking your steps nor the sleep cycle (because these 2 things can be done by my band which costs 5 times less). It is supported by Cortana - an intelligent personal assistant created by Microsoft. Have you ever compared Cortana and Google Now? Because the possibilties of Google Now are quite amazing (since it supports commands in Polish) but I have never had a chance to test Cortana.
When it comes to me i do not measure any activities of me life. I walk as much as I want to, and drink when I need. But we live in times when all new technologies are becoming big part of our everyday life. For some people all the aplications can really help with sports and checking the results on the beginning on the screen of phone or computer when you can't really see results on your body yet. Like you wrote some of these aplications are very ridiculous, like this fork. But let's face it, there are people who will buy this.
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion everything is for people, just we should use it wisely :)
ReplyDeleteI'm quite intrested in new technology, especially new applications.
For example I've read about a newest solutions to protect our health via smartphone :) We will able to check a condition of our lungs (spirometry test) or to look into someone ear (helpful especially when we have children and we suspect an infection)
We can also compare our results, and show it to a doctor.
I think this kind of diagnostics could be a little bit risky and we shouldnt trust it without consulation with a doctor.
I used some activity measurement application called "fit app".
In my opinion those solutions are interesting, for example we colud learn a distance we've done, but I'm not a big fan of sharing every step I take on facebook, It could be addicting :)
I currently don't use any life log applications nor do I log my life in any other way. Although, I did try to use some kind of an intelligent alarm clock that is suppose to monitor your sleep and wake you up at the best moment possible. It also allowed me to keep track of my sleep quality and share it with my friends. When I wanted to measure the distance of a rout I took with my bike I as well tried Runastic.
ReplyDeleteIn all cases, I would just run the app once or twice, I would do what I want with it and just never use it again. The problem with this kind of applications for me is that I personally don't really care about the information they provide. I'm also quite a private person so I don't really want share details of my life with other people.
Thank you for that presentation, I didn't know that human inventions went so far that we invented fork which controls our eating habits. Seriously... Nobody needs gadgets like that, be serious guys, people all over the world didn't use mobiles that reminded them about drinking water or eating a little slower. If we take proper care about our bodies and we will be good for them, then there is no worry about doing something wrong. Our psyche is designed to self-govern our inner systems so if only we will learn to read indicators of our bodies properly there will be no need to worry for anything. Namaste :)
ReplyDeleteI do agree there's nothing wrong with the trend you described. I've also used Endomondo, or apps, which helped me to obey my diet regime. I does feel kind of creepy on the other hand if you push it a bit too far and start noting every activity of yours during the day. It's like resigning from a possibility to simply be a human and sometimes get yourself a good cheat-meal you pretend you never had or run a bit shorter distance once in a while and keep telling your self it's pretty much the same as always. To conclude I belive there's nothing wrong with lifelogging as long as you don't push it to far and start forking out on forks counting the speed you eat in forks per minute.
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