Pic Spocket

Sometimes, networking technologies are reaching into unexpected places. This is especially true with the explosion of the internet. I remember reading over 10 years ago about MIT students that connected on of the campus’ vending machine to their local area network so that they could verify online the availability and temperature of their favorite pop drink from their desk before heading down to avoid going all the way there to find that their drink was sold out. Makes you wonder what will be connected (or rather ‘what won’t be connected to the internet’) in 20 or 30 years.

In the mean time, I got one of these unexpected ‘connected’ device for my birthday last June from Corinne, and thought I would write a few words about it. I am referring to the Withings Wi-Fi connected scale. (Of course, I did make that suggestion… after reading Ray Maker’s review of it.) One might think: ‘Who want to have their bathroom scale connected to the internet?’ Well… I guess neardy-weirdos-living-by-numbers like me hehe! Seriously, it’s actually an effortless and useful tool to monitor your body composition over time.

Here is the scale in all its glory. It’s actually pretty neat looking: low profile, blue-tinted glass top and digital screen.

The scale functions are pretty advanced by themselves. The scale not only measures your weight, but also your body composition (% of body fat). It also computes and displays your BMI (Body Mass Index), but I do not agree much with these. According to the tables, I would show as borderline ‘overweight’ when in fact I am decently lean.

I also own one of these advanced body-fat-measuring scale made by Tanita, and find the information quite useful to monitor your weight and composition. Weight alone is not a good indicator to see progression when dieting or training. Body composition is quite important. For instance, people training and dieting may feel like they reached a ‘plateau’ when the scale does not show weight loss anymore, while in fact muscle mass can be increasing while fat loss is still underway. While the absolute fat percentage measured (evaluating the electric impedance of your body and comparing it to some tables) is not extremely accurate, it is good to monitor changes over time. The numbers below include me holding the heavy camera…

If you have been following this blog for a while and seen the ‘weight loss’ serie, you have seen that I used to record and chart the progression of my weight loss. While it was not terribly time-consuming to do, I still had to commit to the task and update the graph daily and manually. Since my original goal has been reached and free time is quite limited with the current volume of triathlon training, I simply stopped recording this data even if I weight myself daily.

Where this scales separates itself from the competition, is by its internet connectivity. After a small and very simple initial setup operation involving your home computer and a USB cable, the scale connects to your home wireless network. My scale is actually on a different floor of the house than the home office where the wireless modem is located. Then, after each weight-in, the scale connects to the internet and sends your measurements to your account on the Withings web site. Then, charts are automatically created and updated without any user intervention. Measurements can be edited, added or deleted manually from their online user interface.

note: The peak in weight is real.. it’s what I get after a week of vacation without training while eating junk (pizza, ice cream, etc)… Back to diet and training now!

The thing is actually pretty smart too: based on user profile (created online) and the last weight-in of each user, it will automatically assign the measurement to the correct person. In other words, there is no button to push or anything to select a user before weighting yourself… Simply stand on the scale, and it automatically detects if it’s me or Corinne. In the case where several users are in the same weight range in the house, then it would offer a choice on the screen and you would have to shift your weight on the left or right to specify who you are.

Another cool feature is that your account can be setup to automatically update other online fitness and health tracking websites that you may be using. For example, I am using ‘Training Peaks‘ (TP) to log all my workouts and communicate with my coach. My Withings account is setup to automatically update my Training Peaks account every time I step on the scale. Here is the graph in the dashboard view of TP. I never asked him, but I guess my coach has access to that information as well. I just hope he does not get an email notice every time I step on the scale hehe!

Withings also offers all kinds of optional online sharing tools (stand-alone web page, widgets, Facebook updates, etc). Here is my up-to-date online chart.

After several weeks of use, I have to say that I really like it! It’s effortless and quite reliable. Neat gadget! Larger pictures are available here.

Here is the first test of the GPS Data logger in use. I brought it with me the other night when rollerblading with Craig, a good friend. We skated the park on the side of the Detroit River, in Windsor, in late evening after daylight was all gone. The result of the tracklog analysis is below. A single way is 4.8 km that we covered in 13 min 40 sec for an average speed of 21.3 km/h - Not bad! We usually skate about 2.5 to 3 times that distance.

 The output below was easily created from the GPS track log. It took less than 2 minutes to generate after the log file was retrieved on the computer.

Windsor River Side: One Way in rollerblades
Click link for larger interactive map

Did you ever looked at an old picture you took, and then wondering in which city you took it? Or what is the name of the building, monument, church (or other point of interest)  in the picture? Everything is so clear when you just come back from a trip. It’s a different story a few years later.

 This is where “Geotagging” pictures can help. In the digital age, a bunch of information can be carried over in each picture file. Several bits of information are already included in the picture file by your digital camera every time you press the shutter. Recorded information typically includes date, time, exposure information (shutter speed, aperture, ISO, etc), focal length, etc.

Geotagging pictures means that the GPS coordinates are attached to the image file so that location on earth where this picture was taken is also saved. It is also very easy to create interactive maps showing a marker where pictures were taken. That is nice to show the path followed during a Hike for example.

It is my belief that in the next 8-12 years, it will be quite common for digital cameras to have a GPS chipset and to include the latitude and longitude information with each picture taken when a GPS fix is obtained.

In the meantime, a separate piece of hardware is required. This is my last gadget acquisition: a GPS Data Logger. The unit I bought is an AMOD AGL380. This is a small device that you carry with you and that simply records your position at fixed time intervals. The AGL3080 can log coordinates every 1, 5 or 10 seconds. It simply writes a TEXT file in the NMEA format. The nice thing about the AGL3080 is that no drivers are required to retrieve the log to your computer. It simply registers as a USB memory stick device when connected. Therefore it works as well for PC and MAC computers.

AMOD AGL3080 with AAA battery (it needs 3) and pen for size comparison

The idea is that you carry it around when you take pictures. The time of the camera must be synchronized with the GPS time. After your photo outing, the pictures and logs are loaded on your computer and then you use a special program (I have still to pick one) to compare the time stamp on each picture with the GPS log and write the GPS coordinates in each picture file.

This unit is marketed as a “Phototracking” device. Of course, the GPS Data Logger can be used for other things than geotagging pictures. I soon will post an example where I used it during a rollerblade outing to track position, speed and elevation. The information obtained in interesting.

I am heading to France with my camera gear and I am bringing the GPS data logger along with me for its first real test.