Health and fitness played a huge role at this year’s annual Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Los Vegas earlier this month, we’re delighted to report here at Overland Park Boot Camp.
This ‘clever fork’ monitors how quickly the user eats
Normally a much under-represented subject at the conference, the health (and weight loss industry in particular) shone this year thanks to one of the biggest draws of the whole event – a ‘weight loss fork.’ Called the HAPIfork, this piece of smart cutlery actually informs the diner if he or she is eating too fast or too slow by monitoring the speed of motion. In other words the fork monitors the rate at which the user puts food into their mouth. Bizarre!
“Everybody could benefit from this,” says Philippe Monteiro de Rocha, an engineer with the French company Hapilabs, who made the fork. “It has a capacity sensor in the handle which monitors the speed you eat. Eat too fast and the fork vibrates, reminding you to slow down. People feel full after 20 minutes of eating so if you eat less during that time, you’re on your way to a thinner you.”
The fork will be available in America this summer, priced at around $99. However, even if you’re thinking of purchasing one, we’d advise you keep right on with the training too!
Another health and fitness-related crowd drawer at the conference – which attracted more than 100,000 gadget inventors and fans – was the disposable sensor patch, invented by Chicago company Vancive. After seven days of wearing the patch it will give the user a record of their heartbeat, skin hydration, breathing, how much they walked and let them know if they got enough sleep or not (ie depending on how much you tossed and turned during the night). The info is sent via Bluetooth, allowing individuals to check up on the health of others who don’t live with them. The patch costs $40 and it too will be on sale in the States later this year.
Around one quarter of all gadgets unveiled at the CES were related to the health and fitness industry. They included apps and accessories to lose weight, eat properly and exercise on a regular basis in order to maintain health and live longer.
For information on more ‘regular’ forms of fitness and weight loss please see any of our Overland Park Book Camp coaches.
