

A peek inside Exist, our quantifed self app close to launch - joshsharp
http://exist.io/blog/post/sneak-peek/

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joshsharp
We actually applied to the last round of YC a few months ago with Exist but
didn't make it. We've since taken a look at our approach, which was too broad,
and decided to focus on health and fitness first before we gradually scale up
to integrating with everything we can and tracking every aspect of your life.
Gotta start small. We're also resigned to bootstrapping for the moment and
will probably introduce pro accounts soon after launch too.

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jaxn
Nice work. I like that you included the correlations with confidence score in
the MVP.

1) What about adding RescueTime? 2) Where can I sign up?

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joshsharp
Thanks! If you click through to the home page via the header link, there's a
sign up form at the bottom.

Rescue Time and some productivity trackers are coming once we're happy we've
done a decent job on our initial focus of health and fitness. Which is
hopefully not too far off.

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MakeUsersWant
I don't quite see the problem this app is solving (beyond initial curiosity).
Some wild ideas, not necessarily good ones:

* Everybody knows enough sleep is a good thing, but not everybody has a productivity chart to make its importance visceral.

* Provide early warning signs to rest before you get migraine. Common triggers are stress, hunger, fatigue, hormone levels (medication), indoor air quality and lighting. A common early warning sign is an unusual appetite. The facts are known, but their importance varies and not everybody is sufficiently self-aware.

* Automatic goal tracking for Beeminder, because that increases the chance you achieve your goals.

* Prevent procrastination: Is it possible to infer mood from your data, e.g. movement patterns, after some initial training? (The food industry can measure feelings amazingly well in their food design labs.) I know I'm much more likely to procrastinate when I'm low on energy. Right now, I'm trying to notice that earlier and take a break or fix the underlying problem.

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specialist
Thanks for posting.

I'm keen to adopt Quantified Self strategies. It's more important, valuable as
you get older.

I bought an Omron 10 blood pressure cuff. It has a USB port and some Windows
software. I'm a Mac user. Figuring out how to slurp the measurements is on my
to do list. I hope you're considering supporting home health monitors. Glucose
monitors, BP, weight, etc.

I've been looking for a passive sleep monitor. The FitBit I own requires me to
start and stop the timer. Meh. I've tried the SleepCycle app. Haven't embraced
it yet.

Anyway. Good luck. You're doing important work.

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ejain
Withings has a wireless blood pressure cuff, and makes the data available
through a Web API for services like exist.io.

BodyMedia's FIT detects when you lie down and get up (so no need to push any
buttons), and you don't need to transfer the device into an awkward wrist
strap (since you're wearing it on your upper arm).

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k-mcgrady
Looks nice. I'd definitely use this (just signed up for the beta) but I'd be
interested in hearing how you intend to use this data and how my privacy will
be protected.

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jnorthrop
Nice looking application, but you are collecting a ton of personal data
without any indication of your intent. You really need a terms of use
somewhere, especially if you plan is to collect all of this data and sell it
(which could be very valuable). Even if you aren't sure, a good policy will
give you that ability without the risk of bad PR and a knock on your door from
some regulator.

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cliveowen
Now pardon me, but what's the value of _any_ of those measures?

Holy moly! This month I've slept 285 hours. So what?

Heck! You took a hell of a lot of steps lately, you should pace yourself man,
you don't wanna wear out those heels, now, do you?

Is that what you had in mind when you decided this was really the best way to
spend your precious time?

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joelrunyon
Sort of a blunt way to put it - but I agree.

The biggest problem with all these QS apps & wearables is it gives me TONS of
really beautiful, _useless_ data.

There's no action steps:

\- no "you sleep optimally when going to bed at X and waking up at Y"

\- no "you need to walk 15,000 steps for the next two months to hit your
weight loss goal.

QS is a start - but there needs to be some sort of data interpretation for
this stuff to be useful.

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ejain
The problem isn't the data, it's the services, which for the most part are
geared towards motivating and entertaining you, not helping you interpret your
data.

One reason for this is that the human body is too complex (and the data too
incomplete) for simplistic advice like "walk x steps per day to reach weight
y".

You're also unlikely to discover a novel correlation that can be used to lose
weight (and write a book and get rich)... But what you can do is use your data
to determine which _known_ solutions are working for you, and which are not
(e.g. do I really sleep better when going to bed before midnight, all else
being equal?).

I'm eager to see how exist.io handles all of this! (I run another service in
this space, zenobase.com)

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webwright
High level RescueTime integration would be nice, even with a health focus.
Knowing how many hours I spend in front of a computer is a big thing.

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joshsharp
Hey, you're the guy who founded RescueTime! Sure, that makes sense. We'll
probably prioritise it for integration after launch. Love to chat about it if
you have an interest.

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troymc
Will I be able to get an export/backup of all my aggregated data (as files)?
I'd pay for that service alone. Something like CloudPull for my QS data.

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JohnMooreJr
Bad. Fucking. Idea. They need to pay users for using this. Our data is FAR too
valuable.

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rrothman
reminds me of MoodStats
[http://www.cubancouncil.com/work/project/moodstats](http://www.cubancouncil.com/work/project/moodstats)

