Row Row Row (Exergame) Your Boat To Better Health

Think running and dancing are not your cup of tea in terms of exergaming?  Well now all you have to do is grab your iPhone or Ipod Touch and Row yourself to better health and more upper-body activity. We are trying this now and will record a video for the rest of the world to chuckle at/with us.  After a couple of races my arms are a little tired, but as usual as a social game with friends you can't deny it's enjoyable gameplay.

First, download the free Boat Remote. Then go to the Pirata Boat Race page. When you start the game, you will need to choose the ship you want to control by scanning a screen QR code with your iPhone. Then, you only need to row, row, row your boat, frenziedly against the other team until one of you wins.

<p>The Pirata Boat Race from Pirata London on Vimeo.</p>

 

<br />The Pirata Boat Race

For more laughs check out this video! Ha!

Posted via web from ExerGame Lab's posterous

Apple Wants Your Heart(beat)

Forget step counts using the accelerometer, the iPhone is about to become much more of a medical device if Apple gets the FDA & FCC's to approve its external heart-rate (HR) monitoring peripherals to feed into the iPhone. Although another device has already been cleared to accept HR via the Raisin Health Monitor, according to the USPTO application the device will be able to identify HR, the individual user, and even mood. Skip the mood ring, bring on the iPohone! 

Apple Wants to Know You By Your Heartbeat [Apple]: "

Using the detected signals, the electronic device can identify or authenticate the user and perform an operation based on the identity of the user. In some embodiments, the electronic device can determine the user's mood from the cardiac signals and provide data related to the user's mood.

[Via  USPTO via UnwiredView via AppleInsider] More »

Raisin Health Monitor Sends Heart Rate Details To Your iPhone [IPhone Apps]

Raisin Health Monitor Sends Heart Rate Details To Your iPhone [IPhone Apps]: "

What looks like a bulky female hygiene product is actually a health monitor that hooks up to an iPhone via Bluetooth, sending bodily information such as heart rates to the compatible app. More »

It's not on sale yet, with Proteus' Raisin sensor only just being passed through the FDA, but it's another step for the iPhone into the operating room, after Apple showed off the Lifescan app by Johnson & Johnson at last year's WWDC, which works alongside a wireless glucose meter. Diabetes can analyze the glucose levels in their blood, with the information being sent to the iPhone app over Bluetooth.

Raisin would also work over Bluetooth, sending information on physical activity and pulse and so on, with the app giving the user more details about what's going on in their body—and also storing information for charting history. It won't replace your annual check-up at the doctors, but could be a neat tool for athletes or those who really want to know what's going on internally. [Proteus via SlashGear]

Send an email to Kat Hannaford, the author of this post, at khannaford@gizmodo.com.

Are You AWare of Your Fitness Levels?

Another vendor on hand at the 2009 Games for Health Conference (Biray G4H09 Blog) in Boston was AWare Technologies of nearby Cambridge, MA. They showcased primarily 3 pieces to their company including the ActionTracker (waterproof triaxial accelerometer), ActionTracker Steps (web-based interface to track "steps"), and StepTrak Lite (iPhone app that integrates with MapMyWalk). I recently spoke with Becky Lockwood, Director of Sales and Marketing & Human Performance and she walked me through some more features as well as how companies are using their technology to improve and inspire others to be active.
And here is the rest of it.

Motion X GPS on iPhone: Warp Speed…Engage.

Taking to the slopes of your favorite mountains can now be even more informative with the Motion X GPS app for iPhone.  This is not the first time we’ve seen GPS apps and mobile solutions for the Black Diamond thirsty/Couloir-seeking/Out-of-Bounds thrill seekers. Be sure to also check out the Mogi, Item Hunt GPS mobile game from Japan.

View Full Album

[Gizmodo, Mogi, Item Hunt]

LifeScan's Go Go Glucometer

True to my 2009 predictions for at least a dozen more health egames for the iPhone, LifeScan will be coming out with their new Glucometer iPhone interface to track insulin levels.

WIBC #5 (Wouldn't It Be Cool)
Now the real trick is to harness the built-in accelerometer to track physical activity and the camera (done in other formats and studies) to track food and now we're talking ubiquitous and useful! Any programmers out there interested in collaborating?

[Via Medgadget]

Dr.Awesome MicroSurgeon MD

From ngmoco:) comes the latest iPhone/iTouch game, which starts in motion my predication of 12 games over the next year and only means that I have to get in iPhone (or at least an iPod Touch) to try out all these games. Got to be in the know, no? For $1.99, you get to save your friends and family in your contact list from a deadly viruses. Save the Cheerleader, Save the World.


Not to be be outdone by a special "little-known fact" hidden in the iPod SDK recently released, allows you to use your iPhone/iPod Touch as a full-fledged TV game device.


[Via AppleInsider, }
And here is the rest of it.

iCharge for iPhones & Club WATT

Seeing the sharp rise in sales of smartphones including the iPhone, it was only a matter of time before these battery-charging concept devices surface. First mentioned was the handgrip charger and now a swing charger with an added bonus of having your golf swing analyzed. I think we really should think of other ways to harness our own energy because now being physically active would be: 1) enjoyable, 2) energy saving (reduces carbon footprint), 3) money saving (electrical chargers), and even ....get this....4) healthy. The potential to harness kinetic energy into stored electrical energy is not new, and a while back there was a dance floor concept from the Netherlands (Sustainable Dance Club) that proposed using technology to store the energy created by the moving dancers in a night club.



This fall they just opened Club WATT in Rotterdam an this is how the Sustainable Dance Floor works:

The dance floor converts the movement of the dancing crowd into electricity and uses this power to change the appearance of the surface of the floor. For the first time the crowd becomes an energy source that can contribute to power a club. The movement of the clubbers on the dance floor is captured to generate electricity. This electricity is used to create interaction using LED lights and smart materials in the floor. The DJ and the clubbers will be challenged to reach the maximum energy level possible. Every person is able to produce 2-20 Watt, depending on people’s weight and activity.

Dance on, Swing on, just move my friends! It's all good!

[Via Ubergizmo & Gizmodo via petitinvention via Ecofriend via Gearfuse]

Punch-O-Meter (only with insurance)

I remember Punch-Out, the arcade version of the new iPhone game Punch-O-Meter. I remember pushing lots of quarters to try to hit the pad harder than your buddies. One guy demolished us and this earned the moniker "Eee San Joe" (139 in Chinese Mandarin) - he was never defeated and I'm pretty sure we have some old pictures to prove it. Regardless, I would hate to see people flinging their $300+ iPhones (not including data plans) around trying to out punch your friends.


I've posted before about the many mobile devices out there that are taking advantage of the onboard accelerometers including the drum stick KDDI phone, Sony Game Phone, iPhone, and iPod Touch. I predict at least another dozen iPhone apps coming out next year alone and more if you include the other mobile devices.

And here is the rest of it.

iPong on iPhone

Pong + iPhone = iPong. Mr. Kondo developed this multiplayer iPong for iPhone Touch even though the iPhone is not yet available in Japan. As the ball bounces off player one's paddle and off the screen the ball reappears on player two's screen at about the same trajectory it left player one's screen and with very little latency/delay. It sure hasn't been long since iPhone "exergames" were suggested.
[Via Technabob]