Government Has Nightmarish Products in Development to Monitor Our Eating and Activity

by Dave Blount | October 16, 2014 12:27 pm

Not even Winston Smith was asked to put up with this:

The federal government is spending more than $2 million to develop wearable insoles and buttons that can track a person’s weight in order to fight obesity.

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has awarded grants for two projects that will monitor “lifestyle behavior” through technologies that will encourage people to exercise more.

This while Democrats scream that Americans wouldn’t be coming down with Ebola if only the NIH could get enough money out of the Republican Congress.

The first project, awarded to SmartMove, Inc., a company that provides physical activity “coaching solutions,” is creating insoles that will track a person’s weight.

“A single device that accurately monitors body weight, posture allocation, physical activity (i.e. movement), and energy expenditure would be an extremely useful tool for weight management,” the grant’s abstract states. …

“Such a device could be used to quantify and modify physical activity and lifestyle behavior in overweight and obese individuals and others with sedentary lifestyles,” the project reasons.

The grant added that the insoles “can assist in successful weight management in free-living adults.” SmartMove, Inc. has received a total of $1,334,397 for the project so far.

That money didn’t fall out of a tree. The government took it from us. I don’t recall being consulted about it.

For an extra $million or so SmartMove might implement functionality that lets bureaucrats remotely administer electric shocks to those whose lifestyles are not currently in compliance with federal standards.

Not Orwellian enough to give you nightmares? Let’s try this:

The NIH is also funding research to develop a wearable button that will feature miniature cameras to record what a person eats.

Think of it as a telescreen for the Food Police. You never know when Michelle Obama might be watching in person, her jaw set with righteous rage as you bite into a cheeseburger.

The University of Pittsburgh has been given $766,667 of our money to develop this hellish device, which is called the “eButton.”

“The primary goal of this research is to develop an advanced, button-like electronic device (eButton) that can be worn naturally on the chest,” the grant states. “This device will contain a powerful microprocessor, a novel eating detector, a pair of cameras, and a variety of electronic sensors to automatically, jointly and objectively measure energy intake and expenditure, as well as environment and behavior related to diet and physical activity.”

The Food Police will generously share this tool with their environazi colleagues:

The button will monitor when a person eats, drinks, or smokes, and will also be linked to an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) database to measure the “outdoor environment.”

If you cook that cheeseburger on an outdoor grill, you may also have the planet’s guardians to answer to.

The device will also be linked to a smart phone, “which will allow researchers to monitor the operating status of eButton remotely in real time.” …

The university touts the button as a device that “never sleeps.”

Just like the watchful eye of Big Government.

cs-lewis-quote-tyranny

On a tip from Henry. Cross-posted at Moonbattery.

Source URL: https://rightwingnews.com/freedom/government-nightmarish-products-development-monitor-eating-activity/