For those who consider themselves to be body conscious, and are at ease with technology taking a very close look at their physiques to help improve appearances, there's a new, eye-opening device to consider.
On the other hand, this state-of-the-art, self-assessment machine might simply be too intrusive, which, in that case, may make one wonder about how far some are actually willing to go in terms of voluntarily compromising privacy in search of personal fulfillment.
Either way, the Naked 3-D home body scanner gives us a lot to consider.
But, first off, let's start with what it is and promises to do for those motivated to strip down for an unvarnished, detailed technical evaluation of their bodies.
The Naked (yes, that's what it's called) consists of two parts: (1) a full-length mirror, which houses a computer and acts as a scanner containing three 3-D cameras, and (2) a turntable that you step upon, providing a 15-second spin that completely exposes you so that the sensors can record and calculate nine key body-area measurements, which include chest, arms, stomach and thighs. (Images courtesy of Naked Labs.)
Digital processing of that brief body scan takes under three minutes to complete, and the collected data is sent to the Cloud. There, users can access it on Naked's app and then compare the measurements and images of previous scans to (hopefully) reveal progress.
Now, of course, maintaining the privacy of the collected images is perhaps the biggest concern for would-be users, which the company guarantees and spells out on its Privacy & Security page. What's more, execs at Naked say no pictures or video are taken – only depersonalized, 3-dimensional maps of one's body are created, and they are not captured in color, but only in metallic gray.
Another paramount assurance provided is that the Naked only measures what's exposed – its cameras cannot see through clothing – which means that you can cover up whatever areas of your body that you wish to hide.
The device can measure, of course, your weight, as well as body fat percentages, lean mass and fat mass, just to name a few metrics. So, it's all pretty remarkable. But the bottom-line question is: Is it worth it?
Cynics among us might ask this: Can users be assured that despite the images being sent back to them, clear body pictures aren't being stored on a server, where they could be eventually compromised? Given what we've learned over recent years about data breaches at dozens of established companies, is it smart to simply rely on the promise of a start-up?
And at $1395, is the data received ultimately worth the price? Surely, there will be those who can afford the Naked. But aside from the before-and-after visual and statistical comparisons provided on the app, one might ask whether it's vastly different from examining oneself in front of a traditional mirror.
Of course, that's for each of us to decide. But in this internet age, where social media sharing is beyond the commonplace, if you've grown accustomed to lowering your privacy fences and believe the added information will help you reach your goals, just step right up and take a nearly-naked spin.
