a glo i glow in the dark dye. if it works, they'll paint all the reindeer horns in northern finland. that's it. i'm thomas drayton, remember news at the top of every hour. thanks for watching. >> hi, i'm lisa fletcher and you're in "the stream." fitness experts are taking the wearable app market by storm. is our fitness getting a boost or is it an outlet that needs instant gratification via social media? ♪ >> our digital producer woj wajt

ali is here. waj, people don't get enough of the instant gratification they bring. >> my wife loves this area, today might inspire some fitness for me. chris says how else can i feel good if i don't go on the gym and plaster it all over my facebook and twitter pages? i think mine may be trying to kill me i'm not putting it down. google plus david says, we are cheating on social media. this encourages us to cheat harder. are people cheating, is it making them feel better or do they do it for the points. >> well smart watches haven't lived up to their point, there

is a new techie in town, wearable fitness gadgets. we're curious how and why they're using this technology? >> i use the old school nike, i think it's a fitness band not a feel band, whenever i do running because it tracks my calories, my distance my pace. >> even if it's nice to give you, they give you pushes to get up in the morning, once you have a routine, they don't keep through. >> i have friends who use them, they compete with their friends to kind of one-up each other and reset fitness goals, it may be an unnecessarily area of competition. >> i lot fitness, but it can be expensive and if an app can do the same thing i'm all with it. >> they are everything from the

nike fuel band to the first bit force. compete with -- fit bit force. sales are expected to top $1 billion this year. not everyone is buying into the excitement. critics say, more users are interested i feedback from their friends than on the scales. are they actually making us healthier or just feeding our social media obsession? joining us to help answer that question, jamie lam, long time runner. alvin is a tech expert on gaming and technology, janet psychologist, researching buying

fitness products. what about this that's on the go? >> it gives you a data calculation of what you're actually doing. it's sort of making our humdrum activities of walking into something that's more game like and video gaming. so people really seem to want to enjoy that. >> jamie you hang out with a lot of athletes, you're an athlete yourself. give us some reasons why people are attracted to this. >> you see your favorite athlete wear it, you think if an olympian does it, i'll do it. you still have to go to the track and run you still have to go to the gym and lift weights, people forget that, the app is great but the social aspect, you post it on facebook, i'm running this far, you can send her a

message, maybe i could run with her tomorrow, but people go off course about that. >> here, human aspect of it, do we need personal trainers anymore? mike says, my wearable, doesn't charge me $100 if i blow of oa workout. fitness apps enhance with or without a certified personal trainer. francie says, i do need fresh ideas to exercise, not ocd props. and abby says, accountability. there is no connection between apps and wearable. jan it, you're a psychologist, is it about the human psychologist, human interaction? are we giving up something when we go to apps? do we need this to help us be

healthier? >> i don't think you need the human interaction to be healthier. what you need is a lifelong commitment to exercising right? i think throughout the life our lives and exercise lives, certain things are helpful to us. for a while it could be personal trainer, music, apps or trying to find the product that's right for you. i don't think you need a personal physical trainer. it's elusive for most of us, it's a low cost alternative to track our fitness and being healthier. making healthy something that's immediately gratifying through the gaming. >> you mentioned some do this because it's cool and hip. what's the coolest one to use now and why?

>> i got suckered into getting the jawbone one. can you input what you're eating and track it with other people. but the friends i was using it with were cheating about what they were eating and seemed to be only liking the colors. >> these aren't cheap. these range from 60 to $70 to over $100. prior to the show when we were setting this up, you said you know, it's just a matter of time before apple gets in on the action. not one hour later we saw breaking news, saying apple had just filed for patents on such a device. how much money is there to be made in this segment of the fitness industry? >> significant amounts. especially when apple gets into it and creates something. you know for a fact that a

thousand people are going ocopy it. that's one thing. aside from standard running fitness, usable device as they get better and smaller and cheaper, they are going to be applied for other sports. specifically, a couple who uses it for skateboarding. >> the allure of this is feedback, constant validation. how much is the feedback when they give you a cheer or a like? >> i think it's really important. in some ways it's better than getting the complaints, these games themselves are so rewarding, you get points, recognition, getting the feedback in and of itself, can be incredibly rewarding, more rewarding than money in some cases. it is very remiss to have these products give you the type of

feedback in a way you have never been able to get it before and now you can share it in any way with your social network if you decide that's what you want to do. >> janet excess, the top image doesn't motivate me like the bottom image. wow, you have earned the number one lifetime badge, and bottom says, you're number 2. how much does our sharing really lead to better fitness in health and how much of it is part of our instant gratification culture? >> it goes both ways, jamie says, it helps some people and other people are motivated by competition. now everyone else is motivated by competition. people like seeing others you

know, 16 along with them. having community access i think is the really bigger image when we use these devices. >> all right. so just how easy is it to fake the results on these fitness gadgets and why cheat yourself in the first place? next we're going to work down if working for aglobal audience is actually feeding your motivation or just your ego? first if you want more interaction, with this job, waj has the word. >> get exclusive app content, receive apps, quizzes and guest information. interact in real time. you can be our third co--host. vote, tweet, video content, we'll use them on air. this literally puts you in the e

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the night. we need all you can get. >> you are watching zombie attack. that's a new trend of fitness apps and wearable gadgets. the question is, how are they impacting our.mind and body health, especially the results can be easily altered. waj, that can lead to some shady fitnesfitness practice et ceter. >> human beings never cheat, lisa. that's crazy zombie talk. if you want to cheat, check out this video. that is so shameless. okay? you can drive with it. use water, oh my god this is beyond p pathetic.

but nothing is as shameless as this. people are using their pets, they put the fit bit on their dog. laziest day ever, #fit bit. ordering stuff around the house. all right jamie choose. catch a bottle, do you want frying pan dog or head phones? >> head phones. >> spend ten minutes dancing to your favorite album, of course you can get more points and owho wants to exercise. >> jamie -- you hang out with a lot of athletes, you know how that they cheat with some of these right? >> they work out so much anyway, i don't know if they're so point-conscious as we are. i've done it myself once or

twice. >> how do you cheat? >> i had one app and i train with friends in different others and we travel for half marathons. we can't train together so it will be a five-mile run. one time i was happening to be running with a friend, we drove, turned it back on and it looks like we rafn really fast. i think i ran two miles in four minutes so i didn't do it right. i'm not good at cheating. >> janet what's the psychology behind lying to ourselves, why would we do such a thing? >> particularly in a situation where you're sharing this information with other people or you're competing there is some kind of an incentive to look good and part of the reasons you do these things you're signaling to people that you're fit and

healthy. you feel bad when you set a goal like diet and exercising and you don't meet that goal, it's a form of ego protection and in some cases there can be incentive for you to not to want to let down at people or have them make fun of you or maybe you've signed up for one of these apps where you have a little bit of money on the line or if you don't run long enough or don't go to the gym that day, you may lose out. there is a reason why people lie but in general the tempation to cheat is low. you are cheating urs you're not cheating -- yourself, you're not cheating other people. >> ivan, we've got all these numbers, what do we do with it? >> that's the thing. my contention is, while this

data is fantastic, it's just information on the end, what a thousand means to you, in context. >> if you can't put it in context, i'm assuming they are thinking about this as they develop new forms of devices? >> certainly, i'm not worried about the cheerts open the system. i thur a, people are cheating an shutting it off, that doan make any sense to me and b as a technology gets better, skateboarding self-quantity fieg app, they can analyze the raw data. as the raw data gets better, these software companies can hopefully determine who's cheating and weed them out.

>> air ca says i use the jawbone. not only does it save battery, it gives me privacy. dap elliot says, most apps collect data. wearables and apps have many other, video comment. give a listen. >> i am concerned that a few small apps can actually be an opportunity for larger companies and multinationals to modify fied it. i'd like a workout to be a solitary affair. >> weight mile steps steps taken per day, sexual activity and even gps location. how can the users protect the

their prierves from all this information given to corporations and or any porter third party? >> i think consumers should be concerned about it right? so for the most part this information is protected in the united states, they're, under the health forecast protect act. this is called hipaa. this protects your employer from knowing information about your weight, sexual activity and other juicy details that they would like to know and your insurance company also would like to know with you. you have to be careful with the forecast you choose, you may be ghifg up your accessing or your for example under the hip aa information. others like employers can get access to this information. >> psychologists or psychiatrists who treat

anorexics feel that this information can enable this disease. what do you think about that? >> if you look at the population in general, we know for the most part americans are overweight and don't exercise enough. so the whole idea you can turn instant gratification and health, usually, instant gratification helps us do unillegality things. at the same time, there are people who have maladaptive behavior and this may fuel this. but again, most americans are overweight, most americans don't exercise enough and so it has a spoacial to help more people than it would to harm. >> jamie, some success stories of medium using these? >> i think as janet said earlier, it really depends on

the individual. and i know some people, their number 1 movies still to this driveway, and is he pool wear it as san accessory, ivan mentioned earlier, it's a signal to people, i'm conscious about my health, all of a sudden you have a human partner to encourage you beyond that device. i need a trainer. >> brian says, i love my polar heart monitor, it had helped me lose with 40 pounds. >> great! the answer is supposed to blorchg to, if you want to is fitness device is headed.

some future ink concepts that are only a few hours away. come bet us. s.

♪ ♪ >> welcome back to "the stream." we are talking about tracking our personal health on finances device. the ones that could help the most would be the chronically ill or the elderly. ivan, i know some 60-year-olds that can totally kick my rear but these devices for the elderly, why would they be effective for those groups? >> you know it's because the elderly and the ill needs more

exercise, just like anything, they need more exercise. i don't think it's big of a deal. >> jamie, i was reading research and they say on average they say people use these things for three weeks up to two months, that's it. what about the initial use rate? >> sometimes you need to calibrate these things, they are not charged if the in the beginning you make sure it's charged, nice and shiny and people aren't as, commenting or it sits on your dresser drawer? >> i have a couple. >> speaks going how this is actually helping seniors, taking the device reminds her to get up and do single arm leg exercise.

and talk about king flifntd ride into the car and died, when he tried to cycle with be there firsts for all this fitness tech and one more, marco says, other wearables seem to be a sluice rather than a problem. the technologicalnology is still getting better, should regular couch potatoes like myself, is it more accessible for people like us right now? >> i think there's multiple options for you. so you know you can use an app that's a couple of dollars to download and that can help you a lot but compare it with a heart rate monitor being or a.

>> katy: so to me they really really benefit, they make exercise more fun right now which is the human problem with exercise prielt? for not all is it the pun right now. this is a greatly way to make it immediately rewarding. >> ivan, you are a news tech guru, you knew that apple was going to drop its new device in a little bit. a, more interconnectivity between things. so for example we distribute our data and give us to these start jums. nickee just are are, created new platforms that are all going to talk to each other. as more flat forms and devices

come out, they can become coming l text chullizing. you could automatic reply start a game. moor game like more fun. >> i read by today, 2017, 30% of the all americans are going to regularly wear a device that can check their sleep and wakelessness. all the technology being dwobd here to go there. is with google grass, credits i would love, previous rice west what puf seen. you can receipt against yourself. >> our community just tweeted in, said the ssk have fit star

may consider other athletes getting into this. traifners and health coach that embrace nut, what's the future looking? how is this merging? >> again, personal preference, i'm never going to get rid of my trainer. these apps, continue to drive that competition. when i'm with my trainer, that trainer is pushing me to mislimits. and for me it's never going to replace a trainer, never say never but, i want them to be able to talk to your devices instead of constantly blurring them in or north charging. i think thealg all stay. >> on that note, thanks to our guests. don't forget, the conversation

continues, using the hashtag l acht jamstream. until then, waj and i will is say good night. >> reports of a deal ending the bloodshed between ukraine, and the opposition. hello and welcome. i'm steven cole, you're watching al jazeera live from our headquarters in doha. the vnthe venezuelan 18th govert protest. blowing the whistle and pays a price. a war