S2H uses computers to get consumers physically active

HOBOKEN, NJ – With obesity reaching epidemic proportions in the U.S., a new company, North Brunswick, NJ-based Switch2Health (S2H), has developed a patent-pending revolutionary technology designed to get consumers healthy by rewarding physical activity.

The technology, a motivational wristband with a sensor, not only measures this activity, but also gives consumers points that can be redeemed via websites for items such as iPods, MP3 players or days off from work.

According to Seth Tropper, a 1998 Stevens masters graduate, and president and CEO of S2H, the company launched its prototype this past August among 1,000 students at Stevens Institute of Technology and other schools.

“If you tell someone to exercise or else they’ll get ill, they might comply,” he says, “but if you tell them that if they get active they’ll get an iPod—well, that’s turning things around a bit.”

Tropper, who co-founded Switch2Health two years ago with partner Amado Batour (a 2006 Stevens masters graduate), says that warning people bad things will happen if they don’t lose weight doesn’t have much effect. But what if they were rewarded for their weight-reduction, calorie-burning activities?

Using the “rewards” concept that has become so popular with airlines and credit cards, S2H will eventually be selling two types of wristbands, geared towards two different markets.

The first, now in use at Stevens, is a single-use device targeted for interactive promotions; the second is a similar product but may be used for a year, and is therefore targeted for sustainable health and wellness programs.

The initial wristbands, called “Kinetic Coupons,” are programmed to quantify physical activity in terms of hours. When participants reach a certain level, a code is then revealed, which the customer registers on S2H.com. At that point, they redeem their points for rewards from various businesses and sponsors.

“The rewards would be very different depending on the promotion,” says Tropper. “If Stevens is doing it, the rewards might be sweat suits or t-shirts. In the future, larger companies, like those who sell office supplies or athletic wear, could possibly give millions of wristbands away while offering their own rewards.”

Tropper says the single-use device could be disposable, but also collectible, depending upon the graphics and the program for which it is deployed. The sustainable device would be more like the “Livestrong” band that people wear everyday as a symbol of a cause. It will also tell the time and date, in addition to measuring physical activity.

Both wristbands are like a “billboard” on the wrist, says Tropper, and can be used not to just stimulate physical activity, but also promote an event or cause, like breast cancer.

“As the second device can measure a year’s worth of activity,” Tropper says, “a healthcare company could give it to its employees, then use our web site as a rewards platform, or they could create their own rewards, which could simply be recognition or perhaps a day off. Of course, their overall objective is to have a healthier workforce, reduce healthcare costs, and increase productivity.”

In January of 2006, he and Batour financed the idea for Switch2Health to see if there was any interest in such a technology. They went on to develop the product for the next 18 months, which led up to the soft launch this past August.

Tropper credits Stevens with giving him the tools and confidence to stick with his vision. “I’m a huge advocate of Stevens,” he says. “Every day I say that it feels like I never left that program. Everything I’m doing today is an extension of it. I just happen to be working in the corporate world instead of an academic one.”

Tropper says he actually met Batour at Stevens, who was also doing graduate work (and who is the one who came up with the idea of rewarding physical activity). Before they began working on their technology, they spent their first year working together researching obesity. They looked at the major issues surrounding the problem and what was being done to address them.

“We found that there’s a deep concern out there about obesity, and that it’s a continuing issue,” he says. “What we have so far are a couple of decades of failed attempts to tackle this problem.

“An awful lot of money has been spent to curb obesity in the U.S.” he adds, “but instead of telling people to be active, Switch2Health provides motivation, incentives and a rewards platform to get people using our technology.”

He notes that with so many children sitting in front of video games these days, using a computer to get them outside and playing is a novel idea.

“Not only will they earn status in the gaming world by how much activity they do,” he says, “but by playing outdoors, they’ll then get rewards in the virtual world that they couldn’t get otherwise.”

About Stevens Institute of Technology

Founded in 1870, Stevens Institute of Technology is one of the leading technological universities in the world dedicated to learning and research. Through its broad-based curricula, nurturing of creative inventiveness, and cross disciplinary research, the Institute is at the forefront of global challenges in engineering, science, and technology management. Partnerships and collaboration between, and among, business, industry, government and other universities contribute to the enriched environment of the Institute. A new model for technology commercialization in academe, known as Technogenesis®, involves external partners in launching business enterprises to create broad opportunities and shared value.

Stevens offers baccalaureates, master’s and doctoral degrees in engineering, science, computer science and management, in addition to a baccalaureate degree in the humanities and liberal arts, and in business and technology. The university has a total enrollment of 2,150 undergraduate and 3,500 graduate students, with about 250 full-time faculty. Stevens’ graduate programs have attracted international participation from China, India, Southeast Asia, Europe and Latin America. Additional information may be obtained from its web page at www.stevens.edu.  

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