At last – An accurate calorie counter – Even in your sleep!!

Anyone who has ever tried a calorie counting diet knows what a nightmare it can be – particularly trying to compute the calories you burn through your everyday activities and exercise. Now help is at hand from some bright students at Georgia’s Institute of Technology in the USA.

Your gym may have a fancy piece of equipment that will tell you how many calories you are burning as you exercise, but what about walking upstairs or hovering the floor? Well there is now the ‘Happy HR’, a device that gives you total fitness monitoring and management – even while you sleep. This personal monitor straps onto your ankle or wrist and collects data continuously on all your activities that are related to your heart rate and exercise. All you have to do then is to upload that information to your PC and then and analyse it through web-based software.

The project came through a senior design student who was a keen runner and wanted a really accurate reading of his calorie output during the day. Most monitors on the market are either very cheap and simple pedometers, or expensive health monitors and he is looking to develop this for sale at around $100 and aimed at the growing health and fitness market.

He co opted other students in electrical engineering, biomedical engineering and industrial design to bring his concept to fruition. It’s a simple, subtle device that is smaller than an MP3 player and is due on the market in the autumn. Any British students out there working on innovative health projects? If so, let’s hear from you.