Wearable devices has got to be the in-thing now. Think Apple’s iWatch, Google’s Google Glass, Nike’s Fuelband, Fitbit, Jawbone’s UP, and the last goes on… Everyone – major companies and budding start-up entrepreneurs are all jumping onboard the bandwagon of wearables, eagerly wanting to tap onto the seemingly great opportunity.

BETWINE, just like the other examples listed above, is a wearable device. However, the additional layer of social gaming for health, fitness and devotion is what makes this wearable product a special one.

Developed by ImLab Corporation, the idea behind the birth of BETWINE was to keep people in constant contact with the people who matter the most to them because in this age, everyone is just too caught-up with their own lives to proactively keep in touch with those we love and care about on a daily basis.

BETWINE took wearable device technology to a new level by introducing a software platform that encourages people to be proactive and stay in touch with their closest friends and family members.

 

On the hardware aspect, BEWTINE is designed to encourage people who suffer from stress-related pains, who live a sedentary lifestyle, and people who sit too much at work to become more active and live a healthier lifestyle.

The wearable product can be worn around the neck, on the wrist, on a zipper pull, etc. After it has been worn for a short period, BETWINE will capture the body’s activity habits and produce a status of users activity that he/she and the people in Friend’s Network in BETWINE’s virtual world.

BETWINE has a real-time interactive channel that produces a playful link between the two individuals using BETWINE, opening a channel for a non-verbal and interactive connection. The wearable device embraces remote tangible communication that generates the sensation of two people who are inter-connected and it is called “bit-intimacy”.

On the software aspect, BETWINE mobile application is based on simulation game that imitates specific activity and health conditions of people in real life. The data from the wearable product connects user to a virtual universe where you can play games, send virtual pokes, share activity results, and more.

Launched in Kickstarter, team behind BETWINE hopes to achieve a goal of $20,000 by 31 July, 2014.

 

Huiyi Lee : Tech and communications enthusiast based in Beijing.

Source : BETWINE: Wearable Social Game for Health, Fitness and Devotion