The quantified self is the idea of collecting, storing, and analyzing personal data over a period of time in order to gain a better understanding of habits and lifestyle choices. This is normally done with a wearable gadget of sorts that has a sensor and monitor for tracking.
Consumers use devices like FitBit (a fitness tracker) or the Pebble SmartWatch to collect personal data and get a better idea of their lifestyle decisions. Most of these wearable technologies come with accompanying mobile and desktop apps. Our intern was nice enough to share some of the graphs from her FitBit app.
Great work Katie!
Anyway, we have all this data from these cool gadgets but what are we supposed to do with it? That’s where the developers come in.
Developers are creating APIs to extract this data and use it in their own applications. Whether it’s a health monitoring app, or integration with existing apps, developers can build upon the data provided by these nifty devices to give consumers a better idea of their physical status or well being.
Cool, huh?
This is a potentially huge market for developers given society’s focus on health and wellness. ProgrammableWeb, one of the largest directories of APIs, recently added a Moves API into their directory and has started to highlight a few other quantified self and tracking APIs. Developers from around the world are sharing their APIs and creating mashups to take the idea of quantified self even further.
Remember the FitBit app that we mentioned before? Earndit.com took its API and integrated it with FourSquare and other APIs to create an mashup that rewards people for working out. The application takes the data from the FitBit database and shares it with the Earndit application, which then calculates the reward you user receives. Much to our intern’s disappointment, the rewards aren’t cookies.
These APIs and mashups are just the start of what developers are able to create with the data from the quantifiable self devices.
Energized by the idea of creating or integrating a quantified self app? We have something that can help. Use SmartFile for Developers to rapidly integrate SmartFile’s file management into your application. You can integrate our API with many others from ProgrammableWeb or make your own! And the first 3,000 to sign up get 100GB of storage! Sign up for your free account here.
How do you use your wearable tech? Let us know in the comments what you plan to do with all the data you’re collecting!