Have you ever walked out of your office and just started wandering around? Maybe not to the point of what Tom Hanks did in “Forrest Gump,” where he headed out down the road and didn’t stop until he went across the country several times and built up a cult-like following of runners along the way.
No, I mean where you get out onto the sidewalk and think, “Man, it would nice to be in, say, oh, Yosemite right now.” Well, if you can’t just up and head out to the park, Fitbit has what might be the next best thing.
Starting Monday, Fitibit is offering Adventures, a feature within the Fitbit app that, in effect, takes your daily walking routine and turns it into a trek along three different routes in Yosemite, the Pohono Trail, the Valley Loop or the Vernal Falls trails. You pick a destination and, as you walk and follow the trail via Adventures, you see on your smartphone what you would see if you were actually on the path at Yosemite. The feature also includes information about locations, and images of landmarks in the park. As you walk, Adventures will offer challenges to increase your fitness abilities along the way.
The Adventures feature is available for iPhone, Android and Windows smartphones. Currently, Yosemite is the only Adventure offered, but Fitbit said more are in the works, with the next one being the path of the New York City Marathon.
The debut of Adventures comes on the same day Fitbit unveiled two new fitness-tracking bands, the Charge 2, which included heart-rate monitoring and a larger screen than the prior Charge device and costs $150, and the $100 Flex 2 band, which Fitbit claims is “swim proof” and is the company’s first product specifically designed for use in water.
So, strap on your new Fitbit and you can act like you’re in Yosemite today. Or, you could wait until this Labor Day weekend and enjoy the park by marking the unofficial end of summer along with a bazillion of your closest friends.
Photo: Fitbit Adventures view of the El Capitan Meadow. (Courtesy of Fitbit)
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