Smart Buds: Headphones that Track Biometrics

There’s been a whole slew of smartphone fitness gadgets that monitor your exercise progress–Fitbit and Jawbone are two devices with smartphone connectivity that gather useful health data to name a few.  Well, take a look at Valencell, a U.S. startup that develops earbuds which measure your biometric data, including heart rate and VO2 max.  Surprisingly enough, your ears are a great place to collect that sort of information. Thanks to the easy connectivity to mobile devices, these health trackers can be extremely lightweight and do not have to rely on having their own display.

Health and fitness has embraced the self measurement trend, but who’s next?  Facebook Timeline has helped track your relationship developments (whether you like it or not) while Mint.com does a great job analyzing your finances.  I can see an emergence of transportation data being another area for growth and maybe time spent online.