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Hacking a $200 Under Desk Exercise Bike

codaris.github.io

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Re: Hacking a $200 Under Desk Exercise Bike

#71

Post by RHSeeger »

judge2020 wrote: post #69
RHSeeger wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My wife bought me a new fitbit for Christmas (mine is getting old, frequently just loses it's charge, etc). It would not allow me to initialize it without syncing to my phone, which had to be running their app. I wound up returning it because I don't _want_ to run their app on my phone. I even looked into if it might be possible to work around the issue. Turns out, the fitbit, which is advertised as having a GPS, act…

Unfortunately that's the price you pay to use most devices - they need accompanying proprietary software. There doesn't seem to be a big enough market for open-standard or open-protocol health/fitness tracking.

But... it doesn't. I can look down at my old, not-phone-connected fitbit any time I want and see how many steps I've walked so far during the day. Or what my heart rate it. Or any number of other things.

It doesn't _need_ the phone to be able to do that part of it's job. And I don't want the "challenge your friends to a walk-a-thon" junk that does use the app.

Re: Hacking a $200 Under Desk Exercise Bike

#72

Post by joethescout »

chaibiker wrote: post #33

Regular movement is key, and even switching between sit and stand every 30m is not enough. We are working on something along these lines by supporting more frequent useful movement, every 1-2m, without impacting typing with a smart robotic chair. Looking for early beta users in Silicon Valley and Boston for May- https://movably.typeform.com/to/y5NPOA2U

Consistent movement without being distracted that saves me from back pain? Count me it! Already filled out the form!

Re: Hacking a $200 Under Desk Exercise Bike

#73

Post by novok »

StavrosK wrote: post #70
novok wrote: post #60

I've tried desk treadmills with a standing desk, bike desks which are designed for a laptop and under desk pedalers like this. I end up ditching them all in the end because the movement is distracting enough to not let me get into the zone. Whenever I need to focus on something I instinctually stop moving to 'free up' brain power to execute whatever I'm doing better, be it a computer game, writing or coding. Also you…

A 30 meter walk doesn't even get me to the door!

30 minutes ;)

Re: Hacking a $200 Under Desk Exercise Bike

#74

Post by nradov »

judge2020 wrote: post #69
RHSeeger wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My wife bought me a new fitbit for Christmas (mine is getting old, frequently just loses it's charge, etc). It would not allow me to initialize it without syncing to my phone, which had to be running their app. I wound up returning it because I don't _want_ to run their app on my phone. I even looked into if it might be possible to work around the issue. Turns out, the fitbit, which is advertised as having a GPS, act…

Unfortunately that's the price you pay to use most devices - they need accompanying proprietary software. There doesn't seem to be a big enough market for open-standard or open-protocol health/fitness tracking.

There is a semi-open standard and protocol for fitness tracking: the FIT file format and ANT+ for wireless networking. However most devices which support those standards like Garmin generally require the use of a proprietary mobile app for initial setup. Once you finish that you can uninstall the app.

Re: Hacking a $200 Under Desk Exercise Bike

#76

Post by vosper »

I think cycling is the wrong motion for an under-desk exercise machine. I think it should be a very short vertical motion, just feet moving up-and-down, something you can do without disrupting your chair posture, or making the rest of your body move too much.

Potentially you don't even lift your toes up, just raise and lower your heels with some kind of resistance.

Maybe you wouldn't get much exercise this way, but I think getting a whole lot of exercise whilst trying to work at a computer just isn't really doable.

Re: Hacking a $200 Under Desk Exercise Bike

#78

Post by fataliss »

StavrosK wrote: post #70
novok wrote: post #60

I've tried desk treadmills with a standing desk, bike desks which are designed for a laptop and under desk pedalers like this. I end up ditching them all in the end because the movement is distracting enough to not let me get into the zone. Whenever I need to focus on something I instinctually stop moving to 'free up' brain power to execute whatever I'm doing better, be it a computer game, writing or coding. Also you…

A 30 meter walk doesn't even get me to the door!

Humble brag. In NYC it gets you around the block twice!

Re: Hacking a $200 Under Desk Exercise Bike

#79

Post by Grustaf »

gumby wrote: post #68
iso1631 wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> FWIW Reading poetry doesn't work for me How about Oxford poetry? Or Maidenhead?

I just don't hear sound when I read (in any language) so tools the poet uses such as meter, assonance etc are lost on me. Of course I can carefully read for sound but then I'm so busy doing that that I lose the thread of meaning. I can listen to poetry and musical lyrics, and there cadence and phonemic clues help with memory and recognition and can even be playful or fun (as intended!). I've never grokked how one cou…

Read aloud! That’s how poetry is supposed to be read.

Re: Hacking a $200 Under Desk Exercise Bike

#80

Post by bluGill »

RHSeeger wrote: post #49
armagon wrote: post #45

I wish I could use a (Mac) desktop application to talk to my Fitbit. It looks like there was one years ago. (First and foremost, I'm at my computer all day long. If it has trouble syncing, I'm right there and not going anywhere. I hate having to find my phone and try to get the data synced just to see how well fitbit thinks I slept last night. Also, would be nice to access my data from my device without involving the…

My wife bought me a new fitbit for Christmas (mine is getting old, frequently just loses it's charge, etc). It would not allow me to initialize it without syncing to my phone, which had to be running their app. I wound up returning it because I don't _want_ to run their app on my phone. I even looked into if it might be possible to work around the issue. Turns out, the fitbit, which is advertised as having a GPS, act…

Pine64 is working on a smart watch. If you are a developer it might be worth hacking on.

Just pointing this out for those in the same boat as you. Personally I hate things on my wrist and so I don't know if it is any good as I won't be using it anyway.

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