The Quantified Self – Your Life In Numbers

The good thing about information is that you can never have enough of it. Especially if it comes in the form of crisp infographics that give you a snapshot of how variables perform over time or in comparison to one another.

So far, we have used this to analyse, measure and understand our environment. But there is a new, more fascinating and more complex subject that is now the target of a bounding wave in tech. It’s YOU.

Welcome to the Quantified Self. Pogue calls it self-improvement; others think it is narcissistic fodder for the ego and yet others think it is a great motivational tool to achieve fulfilment.

Powered by some nifty, easy-to-use wearable gear, people are now measuring physical activities like how many steps they take, sleep patterns, calorie intake, stress level and even how many times they slouch in a day! Everything that helps you keep the metaphorical finger on the pulse of your own life.

This movement is taking off from a fundamentally sound launch pad created through a convergence of new technology - big advancements in human bio-metric sensors driving down both, their cost and size; exponential cloud-based data processing capability and, of course, the proliferation of smartphones and their thriving app ecosystems.

The fitness industry, for obvious reasons, has the lead in commercial success with this trend. The popular Fitbit, Nike Fuelband and the Jawbone Up strap all analyse your daily exercise, sleep patterns and weight. What works well for them is that they are easy to wear, tastefully designed and most importantly, something you wear around the clock, even when you sleep!

The fact that you can monitor and then visually interpret, analyse and share every event may have immense implications on how this phenomenon will alter, if not influence, the way we behave. Because almost all of these devices have the ability for you to set goals.

When you record and compare a set of variables about your life routine, you tend to start seeing patterns. Once you are aware of the causes and behaviours that take you away from your goals, you are better armed with information and wisdom that will get you to your destination – be it a specific weight target or a more healthy state of mind and body.

It could mean that you opt to take the stairs instead of the escalator to get closer to your daily exercise target. Or you could plan for a power nap to get the adequate amount of sleep to beat the deficit.

What’s more, thanks to the social nature of a seamlessly connected platform, it brings in the added element of ‘healthy’ competition among peers. Nothing motivates like some friendly jostling with data points. And to ensure fair play, these wearable devices are built to discount false positives – so that you can’t cheat your way to a healthy score.

Estimated to rake in $4.8 billion, the still-nascent wearable tech industry is poised to spring a lot of surprises. Take, for example, the recently announced STIR Kinetic Desk that re-imagines your workstations with height-adjustable tables that track how much time you spent sitting down versus standing, at work. Another crowd-funded start-up BabyWatch is working to help pregnant mothers monitor and track their babies’ progress and focus on pre-natal health.

It’s evident that entrepreneur and venture interest in the space is picking up pace and a lot is being invested in amalgamating hardware and software to help people become more self-aware. As these devices get cheaper, they have real potential for mass adoption, adding a whole new spin to the classic business mantra ‘what gets measured, gets done.’

Sumesh Menon is the CEO and co-founder of U2opia Mobile, a Singapore-based mobile technology start-up that builds mobile applications catering across the spectrum of handsets.