from the time-to-get-these-clothes-to-fit dept.
Oral Roberts University Requires Fitbit Ownership & Data Syncing
Oklahoma's Oral Roberts University opened in 1965 with a fitness course requirement for its newest incoming freshman and transfer students. Students first had to manually log their fitness regimens in required course notebooks. The university has now taken the concept a step further: students in the fitness course are required to purchase and use a Fitbit with heart rate-tracking capabilities (although they are not required to use a model that tracks or syncs GPS data).
ORU President William M. Wilson said: "ORU offers one of the most unique educational approaches in the world by focusing on the Whole Person – mind, body and spirit. The marriage of new technology with our physical fitness requirements is something that sets ORU apart. In fact, when we began this innovative program in the fall of 2015, we were the first university in the world to offer this unique approach to a fitness program."
Sources:
1] http://www.oru.edu/news/oru_news/20160104_fitbit_tracking.php
2] http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2016/02/evangelical-university-requires-fitbit-ownership-data-syncing-for-freshmen/
[Read on for coverage of lawsuits regarding Fitbit accuracy]
From the attorneys who filed the lawsuit:
On January 5, 2016, Lieff Cabraser and co-counsel filed a fraud class action lawsuit on behalf of consumers nationwide against Fitbit, Inc. over complaints that heart rate monitors sold by Fitbit -- the Fitbit Charge HR and the Fitbit Surge -- fail to accurately measure user heart rates. You can read a copy of the Press Release on the Fitbit fraud suit's filing or read a copy of the Fitbit class action complaint.
Fitbit advertises its heart monitors as the most accurate wrist-worn wireless tracking devices on the market. Fitbit claims to have conducted "multiple internal studies to rigorously test" the accuracy of the wrist-mounted monitors.
The Fitbit Charge HR is an enhanced version of the Fitbit Charge activity tracker wristband that adds continuous heart-rate monitoring. Fitbit claims the Charge HR allows users to "maintain workout intensity, maximize training, and optimize health."
This was also covered on The Verge .
An article in the Berkeley Science Review from October 7, 2014 suggests that the step counts are within a tolerable margin for the Fitbit trackers.
First of all, are they accurate? Do Fitbits measure what they claim to? Research suggests that for some measures, yes. All models of Fitbits tested showed high accuracy when it came to the number of steps taken. One study had folks wear a Fitbit and a research-grade accelerometer, the Acti-Graph, while walking on a treadmill. The Fitbit showed high correlation with steps recorded by the ActiGraph. A comparison with the Yamax, the "Gold Standard" pedometer, also showed high accuracy of the Fitbit even when people took just 20 steps. Another study found a high validity, with resulting step count by the Fitbit being within 9% of the actual steps taken, unless the accelerometer was placed in a pocket, in which case accuracy was significantly decreased. This decrease in accuracy in the pocket was especially strong at high running speeds (greater than 8 km/hour).
I have a Fitbit. I have found that while it may or may not be accurate in getting an exact step count, it forces me to think about it and get up and move to prevent me from just sitting behind my desk all day. As for the heart rate, I'm not sure how accurate it really is. I don't have access to other medical devices that would allow for an accurate beat count for comparison.
Related Stories
The Register runs an interesting story about the Fitbit's accuracy:
Scientists have tested a pair of wearable fitness gadgets from Fitbit and found they get heart rates wrong by as much as 25 beats per minute. The study (PDF) was commissioned by law firm Lieff Cabraser, which is running a class action against Fitbit over inaccurate heart rate readings.
Not only is this a dangerous flaw, but imagine what happens to your insurance when wrong numbers are propagated in the system.
The results are not only scary, but dangerous as well for those who rely on non-medical equipment's data:
This study will scare the many athletes - serious competitors and weekend warriors alike – who aim to train at certain heart rates. If the devices over-report heart rates, users will have trained at lower heart rates than they wanted to achieve. If the devices under-report, users may be straining to reach heart rates beyond their optimal peak levels. Which can end badly.
Previously: On Fitbits, Their Accuracy, and Required Usage at Oral Roberts University
(Score: 5, Informative) by frojack on Saturday February 06 2016, @01:03AM
If you have already got a cell phone just about all of these measures are available for nothing with free apps.
So you can use the phone to determine the accuracy of the fitbit.
Full time Heart rate monitors usually use a hardware add-on, but there are apps that just use the flash and your camera
to measure heart rate on your finger. I had occasion/misforture to be hooked up to a medical heart rate monitor for a few
days last summer and could compare the finger monitoring from a couple different free heart rate apps on android, and
they were all accurate to the chest leads within +/- one beat per minute.
There are also free step counters, free route logging, calorie estimates, altitude gain, speed, apps. Between a few of these you ought to be able to verify the accuracy or inaccuracy of your Fitbit.
I've contemplated buying the Microsoft Fitness Band 2 [microsoft.com] but they want a lot more than I want to pay, although it has a lot more than just fitness to offer.
Tracking? Too late to worry about that. After all, I did buy a cell phone.
No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.
(Score: 2) by takyon on Saturday February 06 2016, @01:26AM
If you buy the right fitness tracker, you can get the features you "need" (step counting and heart rate?) without the $200+ pricetag or the phone home spying. A $20 device might be preferred to a phone which could be accidentally dropped, although the phone has the benefit of being an MP3 player.
If you aren't afraid of being hacked on the move, there are cheap Chinese Android Wear devices too. They are likely stock Android, which you may trust more than Fatbait.
Other than the idea of hospitals and universities (and maybe workplaces!) enforcing healthiness compliance, I don't see the usefulness. If you are a lazy fatass, you just need to get out there. Use Google Maps to plan a walk/jog route. Without advanced tricorder features to monitor your bloodstream for nutrient levels, cancer, cholesterol, etc., these are just fancy step counters that the NSA's Tailored Access Operations unit has an intern working on.
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(Score: 2) by takyon on Saturday February 06 2016, @01:38AM
(add to above)
You can also use the "ruler" tool in Google Earth to measure out the exact distance of a walk/jog. Click the path tab, and make points alongside the roads and sidewalks you traveled on. Straight lines are drawn between each point. Don't click on the lines you drew because that lets you adjust them, and right click to undo the last point. The path can be measured in miles, kilometers, smoots, etc. and you can save the path with a description.
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 2) by frojack on Saturday February 06 2016, @02:37AM
The point in this thread is that most people already have a smartphone.
The question at the bottom of TFS, (the author of which is unclear) was looking for ways to validate the Fitbit:
I have a Fitbit. I have found that while it may or may not be accurate in getting an exact step count, it forces me to think about it and get up and move to prevent me from just sitting behind my desk all day. As for the heart rate, I'm not sure how accurate it really is. I don't have access to other medical devices that would allow for an accurate beat count for comparison.
.
I don't see how Google earth helps getting a heart rate, or step count.
No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.
(Score: 2) by takyon on Saturday February 06 2016, @02:50AM
Ain't nobody who needs either. Miles traveled and whether you are walking, jogging, or running is what is needed.
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(Score: 1) by redneckmother on Saturday February 06 2016, @04:12AM
Also, has anyone considered "running in place"?
Mark time, MARCH!
Mas cerveza por favor.
(Score: 2) by takyon on Saturday February 06 2016, @05:46AM
Use your fancy Fitbit that counts steps but also tracks your location using GPS. If it doesn't make a snarky comment about you using the treadmill, we don't live in the future yet.
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday February 06 2016, @04:50PM
I'm still annoyed that it's OK to track all of that other data and sell it to 3rd parties and use it against you later when getting insurance and stuff, because Phones.
Just because I want the convenience of a portable cell phone, with a static number on it, doesn't mean I give up the right to my data--health or otherwise.
It is good to have a reminder that many bad things in place today happen because people are worried more about free apps. Making one concession with my ability to own a cell phone does not translate into giving away the barn.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by deadstick on Saturday February 06 2016, @01:33AM
...who doesn't know what "unique" means. Must be an ORU grad.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday February 06 2016, @04:07AM
How many bits could a fitbit fit, if a fitbit could fit bits?
I would go study elsewhere and tell his highness just where he can store his fitbit...
(Score: 3, Funny) by MichaelDavidCrawford on Saturday February 06 2016, @01:43AM
At UCSC, PE is a non-credit class, basically intended for recreation. I took surfing my first term there, having won a lottery to get in the class. That was quite cool.
But at Caltech, they require - or at least required when I was there in the early eighties - three quarters of PE. No PE, no diploma.
It was pretty funny seeing all the aged hippies learning to play tennis in hopes of obtaining a sheepskin.
Yes I Have No Bananas. [gofundme.com]
(Score: 3, Interesting) by frojack on Saturday February 06 2016, @02:12AM
Yeah, that was pretty common then. I remember some requirement at my University in Minnesota as well. Stupid stuff like Archery, Sailing (fun but not much exercise) and Remedial Lardass 101 (our pet name for where the less than fit were vigorously encouraged to go).
Cross Country skiing, Downhill skiing, and Snowshoe were quite popular in winter. (Did I mention this was NORTHERN Minnesota?)
Our campus had a smallish downhill ski slope right on campus.
No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.
(Score: 4, Informative) by hemocyanin on Saturday February 06 2016, @01:52AM
Back when I was at Verbal Kint University, all you needed to get out of PE was a small bribe for the coach -- a pack of Pall Malls and bottle of Wild Turkey usually sufficed.
Note to self -- who the fuck names a kid "oral"?
no help: http://www.babynames.com/name/ORAL [babynames.com]
no help: http://www.behindthename.com/name/oral [behindthename.com]
some help: http://www.thinkbabynames.com/meaning/1/Oral [thinkbabynames.com]
wierd astrobabble: http://www.sheknows.com/baby-names/name/oral [sheknows.com]
(Score: 3, Funny) by redneckmother on Saturday February 06 2016, @03:55AM
With apologies to the 80s, who want their joke back...
"Oral Roberts? Is that a couple of gay guys named Bob?"
Thanks - I'll be here all night. I have points, so mod away...
Mas cerveza por favor.
(Score: 1) by anubi on Saturday February 06 2016, @04:53AM
It was the longest time before I knew that was a university... I thought they were cough drops.
"Prove all things; hold fast that which is good." [KJV: I Thessalonians 5:21]
(Score: 3, Interesting) by Pino P on Saturday February 06 2016, @05:25AM
who the fuck names a kid "oral"?
The mother of a child who would grow up to pitch for the Dodgers [wikipedia.org].
(Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday February 06 2016, @11:43AM
Obviously the father.
Picture it : Mom is holding the baby, Dad wants to hold him for a while and says "Hey wife, give me Oral". She does. Win.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by BsAtHome on Saturday February 06 2016, @01:56AM
When you use technology to track (whatever data), then a smart person will build an emulator soon after to fool the tech.
If you want heart-rate and step-counter, then you simply build a device that will feed false information to the device and you start procrastinating. We'll call the emulation device a FuckBit and be done with the tracking "problem".
Happy hacking.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday February 06 2016, @02:04AM
All it would take is a little bit of LEGO robotics to shake the damned thing. Or give it to your cat as a toy and watch them batt it around lol
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday February 06 2016, @02:55AM
The chain on my wobbly ceiling fan clanked too much, annoying me and keeping me awake on hot nights.
Tie a fitbit to it, and it doesn't shake as much, while also registering steps I never had to take.
(Score: 2) by acp_sn on Saturday February 06 2016, @04:32AM
found the fatty
(Score: 1) by anubi on Saturday February 06 2016, @04:57AM
Take it to Home Depot's paint department and nicely ask the clerk to put it in his paint shaker for a few minutes.
The thing will probably radio back that you are amazingly fit.
"Prove all things; hold fast that which is good." [KJV: I Thessalonians 5:21]
(Score: 2) by VLM on Saturday February 06 2016, @01:40PM
Really nothing to say other than
http://www.unfitbits.com/ [unfitbits.com]
This has been a thing for "awhile" because of big brother style health insurance discounts for being spied on.
You may not be able to fake your cholesterol results, but you can fake fitbit pretty easy.
(Score: 2) by Hyperturtle on Saturday February 06 2016, @05:38PM
I am not a programmer. I don't know the answer to what I am asking.
Why doesn't an interested programmer write a program that doesn't do all the bad things? Is it because it won't sell due to people only installing "free" applications and pressing next to continue?
There are services I would pay for, with a negotiatble price depending on the service provided (I prefer steeper up front cost than a subscription); many times I cannot get what I want for any price because *Free.
I do not understand how it is that so many people simply don't care. There are those that throw up their hands and say "can't be helped" and then there are those that think they are whizkidgeeks that have 150 apps installed and know how all of them work and not how to secure any of it... and then old cranks like me that used to use a small steno pad to write down my weights, my reps and sets, and then eventually stopped doing that because it was easier to just remember it if I exercised daily like I was supposed to.
It is not hard to remember that if I jog around the sub division, it's 7 miles and takes me an hour, give or take a few minutes in either direction -- and then remember it. I do not care how many steps it took, not unless I am trying to change my stride and running style or something.
Likewise, my heart rate--i can measure that easily enough with a representation of time and my ability to count. I know what it should be for my age, where I am at, and how exerted I am and if I think I can press my luck.
I love data and details, and collect much of it so I can do good job at whatever I do. Some details though--just aren't worth it to me to collect. It's the journey and the results. Measuring my progress is great, but not down to the level that novices are doing with their telematic devices.
Besides. Have you ever had to mirror/span a port uplinking to an internet gateway and filter out fitbit traffic? Those things are like a menace; it was all UDP streaming from what I saw. The owner of that company had one and many of his employees did as part of some cost cutting initiative incentive insurance thing (agree to be fat shamed to reduce costs, etc), and the amount of traffic from these things was breathtaking in just how frequent and how many packets.
It wasn't a lot -- not compared to updating windows or something -- but those things are endlessly reporting on the wearer's activities, and at the time at least, wasn't encrypted.
Anyway. Maybe I am old fashioned. I don't have a chest full of biceps, but I also seem to get into my zone without a graph and achievements.
(Score: 2, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday February 06 2016, @05:14AM
Over at Anal Roberts University (using the word loosely), students are required to, um, insert, um, The device records a large range of bio-data, and movements...
(Score: 2) by DeathMonkey on Saturday February 06 2016, @05:42PM
What's weird is that it's a Psych 101 course!
(Score: 2) by GungnirSniper on Saturday February 06 2016, @05:59AM
The university claims it will not be used to check for fornication. [rawstory.com]
At this time. Sure.
Tips for better submissions to help our site grow. [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday February 06 2016, @06:55AM
First they came for the fornicators, and I did not speak out because they didn't know about me.
Then they came for the adulterers, and I did not speak out, because they didn't know my secret.
Then they came for the sodomites, and I did not speak out, because I'm on the down low.
Then they came for the people who don't wear monitoring bracelets, and there was no one left to speak for me.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by Aiwendil on Saturday February 06 2016, @02:31PM
What's the point of logging the heartrate in this case?
I mean, I'm unfit (and overweight, current bmi at 29) and have a resting heartrate just shy of 55bpm, I drink copious amounts of tea, and I know my heartrate varies with about 15bpm depending on what music I listen on.. Heck, just doing simple mental arithmetic raises my heartrate by about 15bpm.
Heartrate is so easily influenced that without knowing what the person is doing it is useless except for checking for extremes (no heartrate or in the 180+ region) so what is the point of logging it during non-training?
(Score: 2) by naubol on Saturday February 06 2016, @10:22PM
This is the university known for trying to prevent Muslims from practicing, maintaining discriminatory practices against LGBT students (for example, a ban against homosexual conduct in the honor code), a history of misogyny, and anti-miscegenation views. It is not terribly surprising that they do not see this requirement as an intrusion into their students' privacy.