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Nintendo & Microsoft Are Worried About Your Health
Nintendo and Microsoft have announced new initiatives to help you improve your overall well-being.
During its semi-annual financial briefing, Satoru Iwata, Nintendo president and CEO, outlined the first project of the company's quality of life (QOL) business. Iwata says Nintendo is working with U.S.-based company ResMed to produce a non-wearable sensor that gathers data on your heartbeat, breathing, and movements during sleep. This info will then be sent to cloud servers for analysis, which will be visually represented to you. Nintendo says that as a guiding principle it wants the sleep and fatigue data to be available as soon as you wake up and require no operation from the user.
Iwata says that feedback based on your sleep information will produce suggestions for actions you can take to improve your health such as exercise or a better diet.
Iwata also mentioned that he wants to expand the definition of a video game platform and to work with smart devices like your phone in Nintendo's QOL initiatives.
Microsoft, meanwhile, has unveiled the Microsoft Band – a $199 wearable device (shown) that tracks a spectrum of health data with myriad sensors and offers guided workouts, a GPS running map, and more in the pursuit of better health.
The Band is a part of the cloud-based Microsoft Health service. Both Microsoft Band and Microsoft Health work with your existing phone, devices, and health apps – even if you have an iPhone, use MyFitnessPal, or use another wearable.
Microsoft Band (available tomorrow) will also show you email previews, calendar alerts, texts, and feature Cortana voice support with a Windows 8.1 phone.
[Source: Nintendo & Microsoft]
Our Take:
Nintendo's aim is laudable, but I don't need a sensor to remind me that I need more sleep, exercise, and a better diet. Similarly, I'd get a better heart rate if the Microsoft Band didn't stuff my emails, texts, and errand reminders in my face.
Joking aside, it's a good move by Microsoft to make Band and Health work with everything else.
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