The challenge is that user data has been overused and abused for years now. When customers download an app or sign onto a wellness platform, they expect that their data will help inform the solution to improve their health and fitness goals — not be sold off to the highest bidder. Especially not mismanaged, leaked or held onto once a user decides to go elsewhere.

This is the Web2 model. Data is the asset. It helps the health and fitness companies to build their product, and it becomes the commodity that (in some cases) those same companies sell to advertisers.

If you don’t want ads, you pay for the service. But even those who pay for the service have their data captured and traditionally have a hard time getting it back or having it deleted if they stop using it.

Data Management in Web3

When we talk about Web3, the biggest benefit that is touted is decentralisation. Distributing the data across a network makes it much harder for a single entity to monopolise, misuse or lose track of it. If one node goes down, the others can keep the network running.

A decentralised network means the data is stored on the user’s device. When a user decides to leave one platform for another, their data goes with them. They don’t need to start from scratch or worry about what happened to all those years of data that was captured on the old platform.

In a Web3 world, data is portable. It’s also private — by default. The user has complete control over who they share their data with and how it’s used. If they don’t want their data shared with a third party, they can choose not to share it. Essentially, Web3 protocols let users control their own data and identity.

Web3 Data Management Applied to Health and Fitness

Back to the wellness industry. That sector relies heavily on user data to create its services. In a Web3 data management approach, the data still exists and is used to create products. But it’s the user who decides how their data is used, not the platform.

The user could share their data with a specific platform to get personalised coaching or product recommendations. They could also choose to sell their data — and only their data — for example, to a research company that’s working on a new fitness app or performing a study for a certain demographic. The company gets the insights, but the user remains in control of their data and is rewarded for sharing it.

Essentially, in Web3 data management, the intermediary — the platforms — will no longer be in control of the data they use. They have to request access from the owner (the user), they can be denied, and they have no hold on it long-term or after a user decides to part ways.

It may sound like a raw deal to companies used to controlling data, but there are actually huge benefits to this new way of working. In a world where data is portable and private, platforms will have to focus on creating the best possible product — not just the one that’s able to collect and sell the most useful data.

This is a big win for users and for the health and fitness industry as a whole.

PUML Better Health powers better health for a more fulfilling life. We aim to create future-proof solutions that reward users for taking care of themselves. Our technology is user-friendly, highly engaging, and easy to use. We help organisations save time and cost. Get in touch today and learn about our wellbeing programs.

Check out our website here to learn more about how PUML is pioneering the Web3 wellness space.

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The origin story of PUML goes back to the early days of crypto. Founder Damien King saw a huge opportunity in the web three space to incentivize behaviour with crypto. The basic idea is that by doing something healthy, you get rewarded in crypto and NFT’s.

The first iteration was developed when he was living in London when he was in the process of building his first startup. He was working for Virgin at the time and he and a friend decided to build a company together, as a side hustle. Damien found himself coding late at night, after working all day, drinking too much Red Bull to keep going. After about 18 months of working super long hours, he found his health starting to suffer.

Burnout is a real issue in many industries. When you’re overwhelmed at work, other parts of your life can start to suffer. Damien realized he needed a little help to stay motivated on his health journey. Which is what inspired him to create PUML. Group challenges are a really exciting way to do that, especially group challenges. Because you’re together with a group of people, you’re more motivated to win something. At the core of PUML is the idea of community. When you’re doing something as a part of a group it’s more engaging than a sole endeavor.

Own Your Data

King first wrote the original white paper back in 2018, around not only the incentification of healthy behaviours, but also another important area, health data. Health data is one of our most important data elements, which at the moment, people may not care too much about. But in the future with things like the predictive diagnosis of lifestyle diseases and things like that, our data will become more and more valuable. So it’s important that we don’t just leave it to chance. We don’t allow large organisations and governments to control our own health data, but we own and control that data and we can potentially commercialise that data. So the original white paper was all about improving your health through incentification but also owning your own data.

One of the features that make PUML quite unique is they integrate wearable data. So first of all, data has to be filled from multiple data sources. So PUML has native integrations with Fitbit, Garmin, Apple Health, Samsung, and other wearable technologies. So the first piece of the puzzle is pulling that data in, clearing that data, and doing some anti-cheating mechanisms on that. And so a lot of that data is quite complex, there is a centralised system that basically purifies that data.

The next step is the gamification elements. So that’s where PUML helps to reward people when they complete those healthy challenges like meditating once a day or walking a certain amount of steps over a period of time. This is the point where PUML starts to integrate with the blockchain because you ultimately earn cryptocurrency for each challenge that you’re associated with. And so the interface, which is essentially a mobile app on iOS and Android and that has like a native crypto wallet, which at the moment, is EOS base but will be transitioning to EVM in the future.

Move to Earn

In 2019, PUML was in an accelerator with the University of Queensland and Hype Spin, which is a sports tech accelerator from Tel Aviv. And it was then that the concept of everyone should be paid to be healthy was solidified. That in an ideal world the user becomes like a professional athlete, where someone always pays you to be healthy. And PUML was the app to enable that for the masses.

Move to Earn apps are Web 3 Lifestyle Apps that combine crypto, social media and gaming features into one app. You can earn cryptocurrency by simply doing things such as walking, jogging, or running outside. These online games encourage their players to earn money by living a healthier lifestyle. When you add blockchain technology and crypto-assets as rewards into the mix, incentification increases even further. With blockchain technology, digital assets can be distributed directly to users instead of using things like vouchers or discounts. The combination has led to the emergence of the new term GameFi.

The move-to earn model takes the world of fitness trackers one step further by adding incentives for people to share their workouts, interact with others, and complete challenges. These addictive rewards such as cryptocurrencies and NFTs, are earned by achieving certain milestones and are the basis of the blockchains’ version of the move-to earn model. With Move to Earn you earn rewards for exercising, upgrading skills, and participating in fitness competitions. With the rise of online social networks and video games has come a huge increase in the number of individuals who are now going digital and are searching for digital fitness. The fitness industry is worth $100 billion and Move to Earn is poised to become the next big trend.

For more information: https://linktr.ee/pumlhealthio

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