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An activity tracker is a device or application for monitoring and tracking fitness-related metrics such as distance walked or run, calorie consumption, and in some cases heartbeat and quality of sleep. The term is now primarily used for dedicated electronic monitoring devices that are synced, in many cases wirelessly, to a computer or smartphone for long-term data tracking, an example of wearable technology. There are also independent smartphone and Facebook apps. ==History== The term "activity trackers" now primarily refers to wearable devices that monitor and record a person's fitness activity. The concept grew out of written logs that led to spreadsheet-style computer logs in which entries were made manually, such as that provided in the US by the President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports as part of The President's Challenge.〔("Governor Rell’s Committee on Physical Fitness calls on residents to join President’s Challenge to get more active" ), Press release, ''Stamford Plus'', April 2, 2008.〕 Improvements in technology in the late 20th and early 21st century have made it possible to automate the monitoring and recording of fitness activities and to integrate them into more easily worn equipment. Early examples of this technology include wristwatch-sized bicycle computers that monitored speed, duration, distance, etc., available at least by the early 1990s. Wearable heart rate monitors for athletes were available in 1981.〔 Wearable fitness tracking devices, including wireless heart rate monitoring that integrated with commercial-grade fitness equipment found in gyms, were available in consumer-grade electronics by at least the early 2000s. Wearable fitness tracking computers with tightly integrated fitness training and planning software were available as consumer products by at least 2006.〔("Olympic Medical Institute Validates Polar RS800 Running Computer And Training System" ), Polar, November 7, 2006, retrieved February 25, 2014, (archived ) February 25, 2014.〕〔Dave Phillips, ("Polar RS800 not just another heart rate monitor" ), CNET News, October 3, 2007, retrieved February 25, 2014, (archived ) February 25, 2014.〕 Electronic activity trackers are fundamentally upgraded versions of pedometers; in addition to counting steps, they use accelerometers and altimeters to calculate mileage, graph overall physical activity, calculate calorie expenditure, and in some cases also monitor and graph heart rate and quality of sleep.〔Jeff Beckham, ("Fitness Trackers Use Psychology to Motivate Couch Potatoes" ), ''Wired'', April 19, 2012.〕〔Jill Duffy, ("The Best Activity Trackers for Fitness" ), ''PC Magazine'', May 22, 2013.〕〔Caroline McCarthy, ("Work out, get on scale...tell your friends?" ), CNET, July 21, 2010.〕 Some also include a silent alarm.〔〔Rheana Murray, ("Smartphones become fitness coaches with new wearable activity trackers" ), ''New York Daily News'', August 16, 2013.〕 Some newer models approach the US definition of a Class II medical monitor, and some manufacturers hope to eventually make them capable of alerting to a medical problem, although FDA approval would be required.〔Dan Holden, "Worn Out: The Dark Side of Wearable Technology", ''Metro Silicon Valley'', September 24, 2014, pp. 16–18.〕 Early versions such as the original Fitbit (2009), were worn clipped to the waist;〔 formats have since diversified to include wristbands and armbands (smart bands) and smaller devices that can be clipped wherever preferred.〔〔Danny Sullivan, ("The test begins: My life with four activity trackers, fitness bands" ), CNET, March 28, 2013.〕 Apple and Nike together developed the Nike+iPod, a sensor-equipped shoe that worked with an iPod Nano. In addition, logging apps exist for smartphones and Facebook;〔 the Nike+ system now works without the shoe sensor, through the GPS unit in the phone. The Apple Watch and some other smart watches offer activity tracker functions.〔 In the US, BodyMedia has developed a disposable activity tracker to be worn for a week, which is aimed at medical and insurance providers and employers seeking to measure employees' fitness,〔("CES: Track your activity level, get cheaper health insurance?" ), Stream, Consumer Electronics Show, MarketWatch, ''The Wall Street Journal'', January 10, 2013.〕 and Jawbone's UP for Groups aggregates and anonymizes data from the company's wearable activity trackers and apps for employers.〔("Tracker shares your habits with work" ), Technology, BBC News, January 7, 2015 (video).〕 Other activity trackers are intended to monitor vital signs in the elderly, epileptics, and people with sleep disorders and alert a caregiver to a problem.〔 Earbuds and headphones are a better location for measuring some data, including core body temperature; Valencell has developed sensor technology for new activity trackers that take their readings at the ear rather than the wrist, arm, or waist.〔David Z. Morris, ("Forget the iWatch. Headphones are the original wearable tech" ), ''Fortune'', June 24, 2014.〕 There are collar-mounted activity trackers for dogs.〔("Whistle wearable technology for dogs lets owners monitor pet activity" ), ''De Zeen'', May 14, 2014.〕〔Jill Duffy, ("Whistle Dog Activity Tracker Adds GPS Location Finder" ), ''PC Magazine'', May 21, 2014.〕〔Heather Zimmerman, "Digital Dog", ''Metro Silicon Valley'', September 24, 2014, p. 17.〕 Much of the appeal of activity trackers that makes them effective tools in increasing personal fitness comes from their making it into a game, and from the social dimension of sharing via social media and resulting rivalry.〔〔〔G. F., ("Quantified self: Fit, fit, hooray!" ), Babbage, ''The Economist'', May 24, 2013.〕〔Chuong Nguyen, ("Zamzee Activity Tracker Hopes to Combat Obesity in Children" ), Ubergizmo, November 23, 2010.〕 The device can serve as a means of identification with a community,〔Sherry Turkle, "Always On/Always-On-You: The Tethered Self", in: ''Handbook of Mobile And Communication Studies'', ed. James Everett Katz, Cambridge, Massachusetts: MIT, 2008, ISBN 9780262276818, pp. 121–37.〕 which extends to broader participation. The standard activity-tracking smartphone or web apps present data in statistical form meant to be viewed after the activity has ended. However, research suggests that if we want a richer understanding of the data, we need intelligent computing to be included in the systems that run the apps.〔Fredrik Ohlin and Carl Magnus Olsson, ("Intelligent Computing in Personal Informatics: Key Design Considerations" ), In Proceedings of the 20th International Conference on Intelligent User Interfaces (IUI ’15). ACM, New York, NY, USA, 263–274, accessed June 23, 2015.〕 Some users and reviewers remain ambivalent towards the technology, making the point that in such a "mirror" displaying one's identity, misrepresentations are problematic.〔Mónica Guzmán, ("Using tech to change your habits? Lessons from a behavior change fanatic" ), ''Seattle Times'' blogs, January 28, 2013.〕 All forms of lifelogging also carry privacy implications.〔Anita L. Allen, ("Dredging up the Past: Lifelogging, Memory, and Surveillance" ), ''The University of Chicago Law Review'' 75 (2008) 47–74 (pdf)〕 Social networks associated with activity trackers have led to breaches of privacy such as involuntary publication of sexual activity,〔Jack Loftus, ("Dear Fitbit Users, Kudos On the 30 Minutes of 'Vigorous Sexual Activity' Last Night" ), ''Gizmodo'', July 3, 2011. The company has changed privacy settings to avoid this: ("Updates to your profile page" ), Fitbit blog, July 4, 2011.〕 and the potential for advertisers and health insurers to access private health data through the devices is a concern.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「activity tracker」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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