The Economist has a nice article about the Quantified Self movement and their recent conference in Amsterdam. The Boozerlyzer gets a passing mention.
THE idea of measuring things to chart progress towards a goal is commonplace in large organisations. Governments tot up trade figures, hospital waiting times and exam results; companies measure their turnover, profits and inventory. But the use of metrics by individuals is rather less widespread, with the notable exceptions of people who are trying to lose weight or improve their fitness. Most people do not routinely record their moods, sleeping patterns or activity levels, track how much alcohol or caffeine they drink or chart how often they walk the dog.
Many people mentioned Boozerlyzer, an app for Android smartphones that helps people track their drinking and uses simple games to help them measure the effect of alcohol on their co-ordination, reaction times, memory and emotions. And there was much talk of the potential to encourage self-tracking through “gamification”—turning everyday activities into games by awarding points and trophies and encouraging people to compete with their friends.
via The quantified self: Counting every moment | The Economist.
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About Caspar
Caspar Addyman has a BA in mathematics, a BSc in psychology and PhD in developmental psychology. He works at the CBCD at Birkbeck, University of London. Before becoming an infantologist he spent eight years writing trading systems in the City. He lives in Brixton, Berlin and Dijon. He never drinks the same drink twice in a night and dances without spilling a drop. Twitter: @BrainStraining
