health

Always forgetting to wear your fitness tracker? Soon you might be able to swallow it instead.

Image via iStock. 

We see them everywhere — those thin, plastic wristbands that track everything from how many steps you take in a day to your sleeping patterns and calorie intake.

Wearable fitness trackers seem to be more and more common, but according to the CEO one of the most popular brands, Jawbone, they could soon be a thing of the past. Why? Because your beloved fitness tracking device could soon live in your bloodstream.

“So creepy. So sci-fi,” I hear you say. I feel you.

Here’s what we know so far.

According to Jawbone’s boss man, Hosain Rahman, the company is currently experimenting with a swallowable tracking device.

During the the Code Mobile conference, Rahman discussed Jawbone’s struggle to get people to actually wear their fitness trackers, and he believes having users ingest the devices could be the solution. (Post continues after gallery.)

“The first thing you have to crack though is actually getting people to wear [fitness trackers]. If you can keep it on all the time, the amount of information you get about the user is staggering,”  Rahman said.

Some of the devices will be designed to pass through the body, but others will remain in the blood stream, he explained. The data gathered could also potentially link up to other devices; for example, your household heating could kick in once your body temperature becomes too low.

“I can tell if you’re in a car and your blood alcohol content is too high, and I can say, shut off the car,” Rahman said.

Fitness trackers could soon live in your bloodstream. (Image via iStock.)
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He didn't give away too much information about how exactly the new trackers will work, or when we can expect to see them on the shelves.

But if this new development sounds all too futuristic for your liking, think again. Late last year Google announced it would be attempting to develop a pill to send particles into the bloodstream in an effort to identify cancers, imminent heart attacks, and other diseases, making it easier and more effective to spot and treat health problems.

We can't decide if all this ingestible tech stuff is really cool, or just a little creepy.

What do you think of it all? Is it something you'd try, or a little too creepy?