Video games giant Nintendo has announced that it is developing a sleep tracking device.
At a recent briefing, Nintendo chief Satoru Iwata revealed that his company was branching out from traditional video games into the couldn’t-be-less-related market of sleep tracking.
However, Iwata believes that Nintendo can bring its previous experience to bear. “By using our know-how in gaming… to analyse sleep and fatigue, we can create something fun,” Reuters reports the Nintendo CEO as saying.
According to a slide Iwata presented, the new sleep-monitoring device will be about the size of a hand, and will sit on a user’s bedside table, using microwave transmission sensors to track your sleep. This appears to step away from the emerging trend for multi-function wearable devices that can track your sleep as well as your fitness.
The device will apparently be co-developed with US company ResMed, which currently makes devices that deal with sleep disorders. The Nintendo device will apparently be available some time in the financial year ending 2016, and it may be offered on a subscription basis rather than as an outright purchase.
Of course, links can also be drawn to Nintendo’s previous work on the well-received Wii Fit and Wii Fit U, which tread the line between game and lifestyle accessory for the Wii and Wii U consoles respectively.
This new venture, however, will represent the first product from Nintendo’s new Quality of Life (QOL) venture, which apparently will see the company branching out into purely healthcare-related products.
News of Nintendo’s latest project comes on the back of its first positive quarterly earnings report for some time.
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Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
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We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
