This Is A Macabre Smartwatch App

Although the official release of the Apple Watch is still a month away, one time-focused app is already garnering attention: Life Clock, the app that tracks your life expectancy, or so it says. As if the thought of technology consistently monitoring you wasn't creepy enough, Life Clock goes a step further and repeatedly reminds you of your mortality and what you might be doing to compromise it. Created by Rehabstudio, the app adds time to your Life Clock when you're doing healthful things, like eating your daily recommended serving of fruits and vegetables or being active. Huh. Conversely, too little rest and not enough breaks takes time away, which is terrifying.

Crunched during a hackathon, Life Clock was inspired by Apple Watch's capabilities and from the way we generally approach their time on Earth. Rehabstudio partner Tom La Bree told Wired:

We saw an opportunity. We thought, "OK, if time is really a human construct, how can we play with it?" In essence, the idea is we discount the future in favor of the present. Tomorrow, I’m the guy that goes to the gym, quits smoking, and stops eating fatty foods. But today I’m going to have one last cigarette.

For example, Life Clock uses data to determine whether that 30-minute workout will net you more Life Clock minutes, and offers suggestions. On its site, it bills itself as:

The app that uses your life expectancy to help you make the most of your time.

Getting healthy is a great thing, of course, as is expanding upon the latest technology. As for whether or not Apple will go for the design, that's yet to be seen. No mention has been made involving third-party development on the Apple Watch, though Rehabstudio tells Wired it's already looking toward yet another wearable interface to project their app on: Android Wear, for example.

In some ways, Android Wear is more developer-friendly. Whereas Apple Watch has been described as an extension of the iPhone, Android Wear includes its own operating system separate from your smartphone, meaning there's a whole lot more room to play around and potentially track your life expectancy. Among other things.

Images: Life Clock, Getty