http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tWZt2vJaj28

In the 1980s “The Clapper” worked with sound to allow lazy people to turn lights on and off without having to get up to do so. Now Crestron is looking to help simply our daily lives in a similar way – but by actually using some motion.

Creston Labs, the research arm of the engineering department, released the video above to show off how the new technology from Microsoft that takes the Kinect motion control system to any Windows-based PC. It could read Kinect gestures for a range of uses including PowerPoint presentations or just give everyone “Jedi-like” powers to dim or raise the lights in the room. So while it isn’t technically in the exercise space, to use it sure beats just clapping.

Crestron Official Website

[Via Ubergizmo: Xbox 360 controller holds your snack for uninterrupted gaming]

Kinetic(Mis)Shift are products that we think deserve to be called out for their utter lack of fitness benefits

As we have pointed out, video games are not a substitute for good-old exercise. However, according to a CNN report, the light intensity is ideal for older adults, particularly with systems that require full-body movements. These movement-based games are also great for those who never engage in any form of exercise. As we have reported in the past, institutions such as schools in Alabama and Iowa are using the Wii as part of their physical education curriculum to get kids active and help fight childhood obesity.

[Via The Huffington Post: More Post 50s Use Video Games To Exercise]

This could help astronauts better calculate their weight in zero gravity, something very important as those in sapce can lose up to 15 percent of their body mass because the muscles tend to develop atrophy due to lack of use. The crews already spend up to two hours a day exercising, but until recently there has been no way to measure weight post-workout.

Now the Kinect might just do the trick!

[Via New Scientist: Kinect weighs astronauts just by looking at them]

UnitedHealth Group’s 3,500-square-foot exhibitor booth will demonstrate how the company and its UnitedHealthcare health benefits and Optum health services businesses are simplifying the consumer health care experience by making helpful, practical information easier to access through personal technology devices such as smartphones and video game consoles.

The booth will feature Microsoft Xbox with Kinect fitness challenges, real-time biometric screenings, presentations by leading health experts, innovative product and service demonstrations, and more. UnitedHealth Group will also provide a cyber cafe with Internet-enabled workstations and a coffee lounge area for CES attendees. UnitedHealth Group experts will present as part of the CES Digital Health Summit and the Silvers Summit.

“Technology is playing an increasingly critical role in improving access and affordability in the health system, and it’s also enabling better health outcomes for patients,” said Richard Migliori, M.D., executive vice president of health services at UnitedHealth Group. “The Consumer Electronics Show is a great opportunity to show people our innovations and ideas designed to help consumers enhance their health and well-being and live healthier lives.”
UnitedHealth Group to Showcase Latest Products and Services in Interactive Exhibitor Booth CES attendees who visit the UnitedHealth Group booth (#2833) can interact with a wide range of innovative health tools, including:
Mobile Applications:

– Health4Me — UnitedHealth Group’s new mobile application will make it easy and convenient for plan participants to make health care decisions from their mobile device. Health4Me enables users, via their GPS location, to find care providers, including hospitals, urgent-care centers and clinics, that participate in their health plan’s provider network. Health4Me also allows users to review their health benefits, health savings account and recent claims information.
– OptumizeMe — One of the first “mobile fitness challenge” mobile apps ever brought to market, OptumizeMe lets people use their smartphones to create health challenges — with friends, co-workers and others in their social network — to help achieve health and fitness goals.
– OptumRx Prescription app — The OptumRx Prescription app enables people to manage their medications with the convenience of a mobile app. With alerts and the ability to track prescription and nonprescription medications and consumption, people will be less likely to skip a dose or confuse medications.
Health Technology Products and Services:
– NowClinic — Optum’s NowClinic online care connects patients to doctors online, anytime and anywhere via the Internet. Patients can talk to a doctor via webcam, secure messenger or phone at a cost of just $45 for each 10-minute “visit.” Doctors can diagnose and prescribe, if clinically appropriate. For more information, or to see a doctor now, visit www.myNowclinic.com .
– Biometric Screening Health Tables & Dashboard — UnitedHealth Group will offer CES attendees an opportunity to check their health biometrics, which can help spot important health trends.
– Health Care Cost Estimator — UnitedHealthcare’s Health Care Cost Estimator gives consumers a comprehensive view of common procedures and treatment options, and personalized cost estimates — based on their health benefits plan — that include how cost and quality differs among physicians and facilities.
– Health Savings Checkup — This tool gives users an estimate of their own future health care costs based on $130 billion in claims from more than 16 million plan participants. The user answers basic questions about retirement goals, health and finances, and is able to get a better picture of potential health costs in retirement as well as possible gaps in savings.

UnitedHealth Group will also feature special in-booth presentations from industry-leading partners on topics such as how personal technology is playing an increasingly important role in health care. Speakers include: Bill Crounse, M.D., Microsoft’s senior director of worldwide health; Charles Teague, CEO, Loseit!; Serge Loncar, CEO, CareSpeak Communications; and James Park, CEO and co-founder, FitBit.
UnitedHealth Group Announces Speaker Lineup for 2012 CES This year, UnitedHealth Group executives will participate in two CES summits — the Digital Health Summit, which focuses on consumer-based health and wellness innovations that meet at the intersection of technology and health care, and the Silvers Summit, which focuses on how technology can be used to reach seniors, an influential group that represents more than $2 trillion in annual spending power.

Confirmed UnitedHealth Group speakers include:

Silvers Summit Tuesday, Jan. 10
9:50 a.m. to 10:35 a.m. Rise of the Silver Surfers: How to Use Non-Traditional Marketing to Reach a Traditional Audience Peter J. DeMaris, vice president of marketing, eCommerce, UnitedHealthcare Medicare & Retirement

Digital Health Summit Wednesday, Jan. 11
9 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. Visionaries Changing the Face of Digital Health Reed Tuckson, M.D., executive vice president and chief of medical affairs, UnitedHealth Group

4 p.m. to 5 p.m. Is Mobile Making Us Healthier? Bud Flagstad, vice president of strategic initiatives, UnitedHealth Group

UnitedHealth Group Announces Fitness Challenges for CES Attendees UnitedHealth Group will host two fitness challenges this year at CES with prizes that include iPads.

– Microsoft Xbox with Kinect Challenge — UnitedHealth Group invites CES attendees to visit the UnitedHealth Group exhibitor booth and compete against other attendees in a variety of games, including: — “Get Your Groove On Challenge” with Dance Central 2

– “Rally Ball” Challenge with Kinect Adventures
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- CES Walking Challenge — UnitedHealth Group will also host its Second Annual CES Walking Challenge. As part of the challenge, the company will distribute more than 1,000 pedometers at its booth, allowing participants to track the number of steps they take at the show.

For more on UnitedHealth Group’s presence at CES as well as the company’s booth, fitness challenges, and speaking engagements, visit www.ceshealth.com or follow @CESHealth on Twitter.

About UnitedHealth Group UnitedHealth Group /quotes/zigman/258846/quotes/nls/unh UNH +1.36% is a diversified health and well-being company dedicated to helping people live healthier lives and making health care work better. With headquarters in Minnetonka, Minn., UnitedHealth Group offers a broad spectrum of products and services through two distinct platforms: UnitedHealthcare, which provides health care coverage and benefits services; and Optum, which provides information and technology-enabled health services. Through its businesses, UnitedHealth Group serves more than 75 million people worldwide. For more information, visit UnitedHealth Group at www.unitedhealthgroup.com .

[Via Kotaku: Wave Hello: Microsoft's Requiring Kinect Functionality for All Future Apps Built for Xbox 360]

The Olympic champion says that incorporating technology in P.E. classes would get kids more excited about fitness and exercise, and the Shawn Johnson Fitness for Life Act – if passed – would provide grants to 10 universities to incorporate more technology into their respective master’s degree programs for physical education, and those schools would in turn partner with local school districts to develop fitness technology programs.

“You see how much they enjoy being on a Gameboy or being in front of a computer screen, and if you can incorporate that into exercise and physical activity, hopefully it will spark their interest enough to take that next step to leading a healthier lifestyle,” Johnson said during a conference call last week arranged by Braley’s office.

Johnson should also know that kids do like their video games, as she was the “star” of Shawn Johnson Gymnastics, which was published by Zoo Games for the Nintendo Wii and Nintendo DS in 2008.

(Click image for a closer view)

Take a very good look at the picture above. On the left is Impulse Technology’s Trazer Interactive Fitness machine, while the one on the right is the Nintendo Wii in action. Do they look the same, because Impulse Technology has filed a lawsuit against Nintendo – along with several third-party game development studios, for violating a 1996 patent for an “interactive system for measuring physiological exertion.” According to Joystiq.com the suit is reportedly based on the “weight-tracking Wii Balance board (and the games which use it).”

Impulse Technology has claimed that the Wii too closely resembles the Trazer Interactive Fitness machine. Now what is curious is that the Wii was launched in 2005 and the Wii Balance Board came out in 2007, so why the delay until late 2011? Could it be that Impulse filed a similar suit against Microsoft over the Kinect this past July and is just covering all bases?

[Via Joystiq: Impulse Technology suing Nintendo for patent infringement]

Zumba Fitness 2 features new music tracks, electrifying choreography, new venues and double the number of dance styles from the original video game, inviting players to party their way into shape with a fun and proven program. The game sees the return of presenters Beto, Tanya Beardsley and Gina Grant as they guide players through each exhilarating routine, ranging from Merengue and Hip-Hop to Bollywood and Latin Pop. And for the first time, players can customize their own class with their favorite routines and track calories burned.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TgguZwzYdK8

In Zumba Fitness 2 players can experience 32 new routines and music tracks with international beats that now include hits from today’s hot artists including Pitbull, Nicole Scherzinger and Yolanda Be Cool & DCup. Dance styles range from fan favorites including Salsa and Reggaeton to all new styles like Bollywood, Ragga, Latin Pop and Pasodoble, plus players can learn 24 different dance styles from all over the world.

An exclusive Zumba Fitness belt is included inside every box so gamers can holster their Wii Remote and naturally move to the music. The music won’t stop and neither should gamers looking to get with the beat.

Zumba Fitness Official Website

Many of these titles are aimed at the fitness crowd or have fitness as part of the selling point, and include games such as Just Dance 3, Just Dance Kids 2 and Your Shape Fitness Evolved, but there is also a trend going with just slightly more active – or should we say interactive – gaming. These include action games. And while these might not be quite the same as going out for a run or hitting the gym, for those long winter days ahead it still could help get gamers hearts pumping from a bit more activity.

[Via The Wall Street Journal: Can Microsoft’s Xbox Have Another Kinect Christmas, or Will It Be Coal All Around?]

Sports Champions remains a classic fan-favorite Move title and includes six challenging events including Disc Golf, Gladiator Duel, Beach Volleyball, Archery, Table Tennis and Bocce; while Medieval Moves is an action-adventure game that has been designed specifically for PlayStation Move. Gamers must help Prince Edmund protect his kingdom against the evil sorcerer Morgrimm and his army of skeletons. And instead of mere button mashing, gamers will  use the PS Move motion controller to sword fight, shoot arrows, and fling throwing stars in your epic battles. This one also offers full 3D support, so break out the glasses if got ‘em!

All you’ll need is a TV and the PlayStation 3 of course, but for $99.99 MSPR this is a good way to get your inner gamer off the couch and moving!

Microsoft and Ubisoft have provided a few more details for its Your Shape Fitness Evolved 2012, which will officially launch tomorrow, via the new YouTube video (above). The fitness/sports game looks to build on the past success of the Your Shape Fitness franchise and once again promises to help gamers get off the couch and get a little more fit via the Kinect for the Microsoft Xbox 360. Never a bad thing.

Your Shape Fitness Official Website

Zumba Fitness 2 promises to get you moving with Zumba creator Beto and international celebrity instructors Tanya Beardsley and Gina Grant as they guide you through exhilarating choreography that spans 32 sizzling new tracks and 24 different international dance styles. Whether you’re playing in Single Song, Full Class or Zumba Party mode that supports up to four dancers, you’ll have a blast with this unique dance fitness experience that shapes, tones and transforms you body and almost forget you’re not working out.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=brkDQL1h7iw

Dance Styles Include:

Zumba Fitness Official Website