Nintendo hits snooze button on its sleep tracking gadget
More than a year after Nintendo announced it was developing a fun game-y spin on sleep tracking gadgets, the company is putting the initiative on hold indefinitely.
Nintendo originally planned to launch the device called QOL Sensor — a fatigue- and sleep-monitoring device that goes on your nightstand (abbreviated for "quality of life") — in the first quarter of 2016. But company president Tatsumi Kimishima gave an update about the product during an investors briefing and said the gadget was no longer in the works, according to a Wired report.
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“In regards to the Quality of Life [device], which was not mentioned in any of today’s questions, we do not have the conviction that the sleep-and-fatigue-themed [device] can enter the phase of actually becoming a product,” said Kimishima, in a translated quote. “We no longer have any plans to release it by the end of March 2016. On the other hand, we still believe there are things we can do in the general category of Quality of Life, and we will continue to study the possibility of expanding into this field.”
The gadget was expected to be a non-wearable device and was scheduled to be a part of the company's planned "Quality of Life" platform. Back in 2014, the company said a Nintendo game console such as the Wii U wouldn't be required to use the device or platform, but it was assumed a corresponding app would house information about sleeping patterns.
At the time, Nintendo CEO Satoru Iwata said the device's sensors would measure your breathing, heartbeat and body movement without ever touching you. The collected data would be sent to cloud servers for analyzing and packaged into visualizations for the user to understand. We were hoping for a Super Mario-like gamification angle that lets you unlock new levels the more you keep moving.
To stand out amid the saturated fitness tracking space, Nintendo planned to focus on fatigue and keeping people motivated throughout the day.
"Since fatigue is not regarded as a disease in the medical world, it is said to be a field where sufficient research has yet to be conducted," said Iwata in 2014. "We have been fortunate to encounter several experts who have been conducting cutting-edge research in the science of fatigue. Together, we are now developing technology to estimate fatigue."
It's unclear if the company is shelving the QOL device with plans to revisit or if it will be moving on to pursue other tech developments in the health and fitness category. The company has not yet responded to a Mashable request for comment.
