Prototype phone monitors your state of health

CHIBA, JAPAN hasn't (yet) produced the neural sockets or bionic eyes predicted by futurist William Gibson in his classic cyberpunk sci-fi novels, but a prototype cellphone that's also a personal health advisor tipped up there the other day.

As reported in an Associated Press story at LiveScience, NTT DoCoMo recently showed its prototype Wellness mobile phone to journalists in that Tokyo suburb. In addition to the usual cellphone functions, it's a health monitor and personal trainer as well.

It can estimate how many calories you burn, track your jogging time and distance, take your pulse, calculate your body fat index, even tell you if you have bad breath with an inbuilt breathalyser. It can also assess your stress level by asking you questions and give you a text message pep talk if it thinks you need a bit of bucking up.

The AP story doesn't say so, but given Japanese salarymens' after work drinking culture, the Wellness phone's breathalyser likely can check and report your blood alcohol level, too. µ

L'INQ
LiveScience