While I mostly classify activity trackers as novelties, with limited actionable intelligence, CES is the absolute best place to put them through their paces (ha, punny). With my buddies Brad Linder of Liliputing and Kevin Tofel of GigaOm each stepping up to the plate. Kevin sports a Fitbit Force wristband and Brad rolls with a Withings Pulse puck – so the comparison isn’t entirely equivalent, but both shed light on the massive scale of CES – which covers multiple convention and expo centers across multiple Vegas venues. Each hiked over 35 miles in pursuit of gadgety goodness and we salute them for their efforts (and cardiovascular fitness).
Speaking of CES tracking, attendee badges (or at least press badges) were outfitted with NFC stickers this year. In my Vegas experience, the feature was used to check into press events and ensure we’re entitled to and received only a single boxed lunch (per day). Missing Remote dumped the Bcard Smartrac data – which wasn’t super revealing, but folks like us clearly enjoy tinkering.
The badges looked expensive. I was surprised they made no efforts to recycle them (or at least I missed it if they did).
Dave, I’ll bet your activity was somewhat similar. Except for how much you hurt afterward, you don’t realize just how much you’re walking there. My Up (which I acquired just before heading to CES) tracked over 45 miles on CES week, Sunday-Friday.
I’d also be interested in the sleep (or lack thereof) analysis.
Definitely envious of those CES press attendees on scooters… even saw one guy with a few oxygen tanks strapped to his ride – nice!
There was a recycling bin for press badges outside the Convention Center, but it was optional. I would have dropped mine in on the way out Wednesday, but I wasn’t sure if I’d have time to stop by for a final visit before my flight Thursday (I didn’t).
As for sleep… what’s that?
Love my Fitbit One! Got my 2013 report and I was just 81 miles short of walking 1000 miles last year (I would have made it easily but I returned to my couch potato ways around October or so, le sigh).
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