I Tracked My Steps at CES and the Results Are Insane
The CES 2016 has drawn to a close in Las Vegas. Exhibitors from 150 countries around the world and some 150,000 show attendees have since packed up their bags/stalls/tech and completed their long journeys home. CES is an experience unlike any other — when you’re there, you literally feel swallowed up by the crowds, the mind-blowing innovations and the kooky tech too. The number one tip people will give you during the world’s biggest tech conference is to bring comfortable shoes. Intrigued, I decided to strap on a couple of wearable activity trackers and count just how many steps I’d take while I was there.
CES was broken up into three major exhibitions areas: Tech East, Tech West and C-Space — also known as Tech South. To give you an idea of how large just one of these areas is, Tech West alone consists of the Sands Expo Center + The Venetian + The Palazzo Hotels as well as the Wynn + Encore Hotels — and if you’ve ever laid eyes on one of these hotels, you’ll know they’re massive. Let’s not even mention all the non-official sites where tech companies were hosting events and exhibits. Basically, it’s a whoooole lot.
I didn’t stay for the entirety of the four-day conference, but I showed up early and was there for days one and two. If I had lasted through the end, my feet would probably be mere nubs. On day one, I tracked my steps using a Fitbit Charge HR ($150) and day two, I used the Microsoft Band 2 ($250). Two wearables, because variety is the spice of life!
Day one, I wore a pair of TopShop Chelsea boots akin to these, but by day two, I got plantar fasciitis (thanks, flattish feet!) and switched to a pair of Vans Old Skool Sneakers ($50). Next year, I’m going with orthopedic shoes, and no one can stop me.
Exploring new tech is a workout. Literally. On just day one of CES, I walked 19,667 steps, or roughly 8.32 miles. Here’s the Fitbit dashboard, which allows you to track not only your steps, but also how much sleep you got. You can also connect with pals to compare each others’ activity.
Day two of CES was a little more chill, but not by much. I took 15,200 steps, or about 6.48 miles. The Microsoft Health dashboard is also super comprehensive. It broke down my activity on different pages for steps, heart rate and floors I traversed.
All in all I found that during my two days there, I took a total of 34,867 steps. That roughly amounts to about 14.8 miles walked. Keep in mind this was in between doing a considerable amount of sitting too (since there were also about a thousand demos, conferences and plenty of reporting going on).
Basically, what we found was CES = a great workout. That, and your comfiest shoes are probably not as comfy as you previously thought.
Stay tuned here and on our Twitter @BritandCo for all the latest news from CES 2016!
