Inexpensive device protects office workers

6 October 2016

MvBii Ventures (Cambridge UK), launches its next update to its affordable lifestyle tracker range z-Track.

Designed in the UK, zTrack 2.0 is targeted particularly at time-poor professionals who are at risk of sedentary workplace and lifestyle associated conditions, including the newly identified “sitting disease”.  Tackling these issues has led some to say it could add 10 years to your life expectancy.

Growing concerns are emerging about the effects of prolonged inactivity at work or at home.  On average, British people sit for up to 8.9 hours a day[1].  A growing body of compelling international evidence shows that sitting for long periods can lead to weight gain and affect blood sugar regulation and blood pressure levels.  Some have gone further and even suggested it may become the new smoking [2],[3],[4].

The issue isn’t new either. Greek Philosopher Plato commented “Lack of activity destroys the good condition of every human being while movement and methodical physical exercise save it and preserve it.”

zTrack offers some specific features to address this outlined by its founder Justin Pisani.

“We have three principles which guide us:

….Keep Moving – a little regular activity can be better than a big burst at the start or end of the day or none at all.

….Take your chances – day to day life offers many chances to be more active without going to the gym. It’s amazing how being aware of this can make the stairs suddenly look more attractive than the lift.

… Balance is best – It’s not all about activity, knowing when to relax or be active is important to our overall sense of wellbeing”

The device features a user friendly prompting system to discretely tell you when you’ve been stationary for too long, a unique balance score which tracks your pattern of rest and activity and an activity map of your day to help you see where you could be more or less active.  zTrack displays these discretely on the unit so whenever you check the time you get a quick reminder of how your day is going.

“Some of these types of features can be found on more expensive smartwatches but we found many of these are way too pricy or phone specific” adds Pisani.

MvBii are not just hardware manufacturers.  “We want to contribute to the science too. It’s the only way to develop the smart algorithms needed to help people in their daily lives.  In conjunction with our academic partners, led by Prof David Hewson of the University of Bedfordshire, we have major trials starting next month with a large corporate accountancy and various UK healthcare bodies where we will measure the benefits of assistive technology and new ways to being active in life”

Re-enforcing this, MvBii is offering additional data export, access and analysis features, alongside discounted hardware to academics and organisational development programmes.  Anyone interested in this should contact MvBii.

For further information: ludo.chapman@mvbii.com