The virtual pursuit of happiness and health

In 2007, a group of enthusiasts from San Francisco's tech circles came together to start logging their daily lives. Yes, that's right. These data aficionados maintained a detailed logbook of their daily lives; tracking their runs, steps, and mood. It was similar to maintaining a journal, except that they were counting their steps or analysing their sleep pattern. This practice of lifelogging by a bunch of hobbyists has slowly mushroomed into a subcultural movement called the quantified self, popularised in around 50 cities by Gary Wolf and Kevin Kelly from the Wired magazine.
Quantified self involves measuring our daily activities to have greater self-awareness. The end goal is to essentially improve on our fitness levels and well-being. Gary Wolf enthusiastically explains quantified self as "self-knowledge through self-tracking with technology". It may sound bizarre, but some of us are consciously or unconsciously doing it. If you have used a fitness app for your morning run, you are already part of the quantified self-movement. Most fitness freaks and sportspersons are constantly recording and analysing their personal data to boost performance.
It's a known fact that we can never really be objective about ourselves unless we rely on quantifiable facts. For example, a weighing scale is almost always brutally honest about our weekend dietary indiscretions despite our own denial. In the absence of objective facts, we find it difficult to change our actions and habits for greater well-being. It's common management view that if we can measure something, we can manage it. This is why organisations have been meticulously using financial metrics to improve their business performance. Now the same principle is being applied to individuals who are able to collect and analyse a widening array of personal data. Social media allows us to see where we stand in a larger cohort such as women in their 40s who enjoy running.
Self-tracking with a little help from technology can be the great catalyst for behavioural change that we are all looking for. It is no coincidence that this movement is shaping up as smart wearables are becoming more ubiquitous, strapped around our wrists or plugged in our ears.
The industry is in the business of helping us count our activities to calibrate our lives. Improved sensors at lower costs have ushered the great wearables gold rush. Every consumer device company worth its salt is rolling out wearables. They have received patents suggesting biometric sensors in earphones for heart rate and body temperature monitoring. We will see a growing number of sensors embedded in our shoes, clothing and even in our bodies. 
Wearables equipped with sensors are watching over us by monitoring our footsteps, heartbeat, pulse rate, blood pressure, and sleep pattern. The apps on my smart watch can keep me on my toes, reminding me to stand up at regular intervals. My Breathe app never forgets to initiate short breathing exercises so that I may relax at work. The iPhone Health app has a segment on mindfulness. It also gives me precise moments of unusually elevated heart rates when I was inactive. The list of health metrics in the smart watch is ever growing with each upgrade as its sensors and apps evolve. The first-generation apps were passive loggers of data. The latest version is keeping a tab on my fitness goals, gently spurring me when I am at risk of missing them.
The quantified self-movement coupled with sensor laden wearables and apps are laying the ground work for our digital twins. A digital twin is an emerging idea of a digital replica of any physical object; in this case the twin is a digital avatar or a reflection of me. Perhaps it is a little more efficient and more diligent version of me as it guides me towards greater wellness. It will simulate our physical attributes and conditions by tapping into a host of sensors and technologies and help us perform at an optimum level.
A digital twin will be created by an eclectic set of data on sleep patterns, heart rate, pulse, activity levels, calories intake and so forth. We will progressively harvest advanced medical data to build our digital twin. This could be leveraged by healthcare providers to accurately assess our health and administer medicines to the patient. Many people who are part of the quantified self-movement have effectively managed their chronic illness such as diabetes. The aggregated data will give us valuable insights that may not be evident in clinical trials. People of determination can have a companion in their digital twin who could help them navigate the world around them.
There are obviously important issues like data privacy and regulations to check misuse. But as long as sensors evolve to collect more data, our digital twin will continue to mature, adding more precision in our lives to keep us honest about our health, and thus maintain our well-being, and by extension our happiness. The purpose of life is to be happy, the Dalai Lama has said, and the digital twin will guide us towards our ultimate purpose of life.
Shalini Verma is the CEO of PIVOT technologies