Fitness Trackers Get Stylish, But Accuracy May Need Work, Experts Say

Feb 27, 2014— -- Activity trackers –- wearable devices that count steps and measure calorie burn –- are going through a boom. Sales of the devices last year topped $330 million, according the market research group NPD, and consumers have more than two dozen brands and styles to choose from, including shoe chips, bracelets, anklets, pendants and clip-ons.

To think it all started with a pair of "magic underwear."

Dr. James Levine, a professor of medicine at the Mayo Clinic in Arizona, studies the relationship between movement performed outside the gym and obesity. About a decade ago, he rigged up an undergarment with sensors designed to catch the body's every little shift in movement.

Related: Step by Step for Better Health?

"I figured that most people wear underwear most of the time so this was a good way to figure out what most people do for activity throughout the day," Levine recalled.

By having his subjects wear what he called the magic underwear or "fidget pants," Levine discovered that thin people tap their feet, jiggle their pencils and shift in their seats about two and half hours more each day than obese people do. Sensing he was onto something that could help people control their weight, he said his next goal was to turn his experimental undies into a gadget that could help motivate the average person to get up and move more.

Levine realized he couldn't ask Americans to wear complex panties to measure their movement. His studies showed that wrapping a sensor around the spine would also provide good data. But that too was a tough sell, he said. So he and his team created a chip that inserted into the heel of a shoe and then later, a motion-tracking bracelet.

The idea of a simple, stylish tracker has caught on. Many consumers are now obsessed with tracking their every move. But some experts say the tradeoff for style and comfort has been accuracy.

How Good Are Trackers?

"Most brands of trackers use proprietary algorithms and formulas that haven't been independently tested in the lab and they aren't available to the public so it's impossible to know how they are capturing their information," said John Jakicic, director of the physical activity and weight management research center at the University of Pittsburgh.

As Jakicic explained it, most trackers rely on a piece of hardware known as a three-axis accelerometer to gather data. Using a technology similar to what a cell phone uses to change the orientation of its screen when you shift its position, accelerometers combine hip and foot movement with speed of movement and changes in direction to come up with an estimation of steps, mileage and calorie count.

If a tracker relies on is accelerometer alone, Jakicic said, the information it provides may not be completely reliable.

For example, a bracelet gadget will do a good job detecting steps from walking and running because the wrist moves during this kind of activity. But it won't give you any credit for pedaling away on a stationary bike with your hands planted on the handlebars.

Related: Battle of the Activity Tracking Bracelets