Fitness Data Ecosystem (Take 2)

A BIG Problem
I've been thinking a bit more about my thoughts on the Fitness Data Ecosystem (FDE) and one of the key problems with the concept is that it requires multiple companies, without necessarily aligned interests, to work together to make it happen. It is, quite problematically, a system.

A Solution?
Perhaps a much more contained solution would consist of the following three items:
Wrist Watch or System Controller: This is the nerve center of the system and unsurprisingly, looks and behaves just like a watch. It also receives signaling from the other devices and in th best case, also allows some user input. A much more flexible device, such as an iPhone, would be an ideal but clunky solution. User input will be described later.
Wrist and Ankle Accelerometer Bracelets: Simple and light-weight devices that measure acceleration and transmit that information to the system controller. If there is a Wrist Watch Controller, it would need an accelerometer, too.
Wireless Heart Rate Monitor: Nothing special, straps to the chest and transmits a heartrate signal to the System Controller. It, too, would have an accelerometer to track "core" motions.

Details
Basically, the FDE devices described above could keep track of all movements and physiological reactions (at least heart rate, which hopefully is a good proxy for everything you'd like to be measuring). The FDE System Controller would not have to process the data, just store the information for later processing. If the information is of high quality, the post-processing could literally map your progress through the gym and determine each exercise done. It could match your heart rate with the pace and patterns of your movements. What it wouldn't know, however, was how much weight you lifted for each exercise. This is where the System Controller and its interface become important.

System Controller Interface
You want the FDE SC to do two things for you: let you know what part of your workout you are supposed to be doing and track what you did. Here, a bright big display of your iPhone would be great. It would not only tell you that you were supposed to do 20 reps of preacher curls, but it would tell you that you should begin with 25 pound dumbbells and work up 30, 45 and 50 for your next three sets. If you ate your Wheaties that day and you want to crack it up a notch, the interface should let you quickly adjust the expected routine for what you actually did (a slider that goes in the increments of the machines or available weight set that you have).

I think due to the above interface requirements, a watch-sized device would be ill-suited to the task. I vote for the iPhone - only a few more weeks and we'll have an SDK that can make this all a reality (if all of the wireless devices are running no Bluetooth).

Will People Use It?
I think some would be intrigued by the notion that they can easily track and monitor their workouts. Others will find the ankle and wrist-bands and unsightly and geeky addition to their otherwise fashionable workout attire. In the end, it will be a subset of people, but I think large enough for it to be of interest of a company such as Nike or Adidas.

Side Benefits?
Why not wear these things all day long? They seem like they could serve as great low cost whole-body monitors for medical examination - you could just add whatever other specific device (like a blood pressure monitor) you might need and transmit its signal via Bluetooth, too. It seems to me that you should go to your next physical after having emailed your doctor a week's worth of body monitoring information. The interaction could be much more productive: you need to exercise more (not likely to be the feedback to somebody who would wear such a device regularly, but perhaps the doctors office mails you one a week before your appointment); you need to cool down more slowly in your workouts; focus on moving in the middle of the day (you sit still too long at your desk); why not walk a few extra blocks in the morning instead of getting off at the closest subway stop; your resting heartrate looks good (too high, too low).

You may just want to wear it all day long because you want to have a better idea how many calories you are burning in the course of a day/week and how you should adjust your diet accordingly.

Conclusion, for now
A lot of this sounds like something from the MIT Media Lab (and perhaps it has all been done before), but I don't necessarily think its outlandish to propose. But, despite Mr. Kent's prodding, I don't think I'm about to leave my current line of work to make it happen.