The Verge is reporting today that Microsoft will be adding new functionality to the Xbox 360 that tracks users' physical activity across multiple Kinect games. The report also says that there will be a sensor accessory—codenamed Joule—that will track your heart rate while playing. Stats on your activity, measured against various fitness goals, will live in the cloud.
No time frame for the rollout of Kinect Play Fit is given, but it's expected to come via a dashboard update like the one that introduced the Xbox 360's new content-streaming initiative. Microsoft has been promoting Kinect games like Just Dance, EA Sports Active and Your Shape as convenient alternatives to going to the gym and this rumor feels in line with that mode of thinking. The Verge had also previously reported on the just-confirmed $99 subsidized Xbox 360 rumor so this could very well be true as well.
Exclusive: Kinect Play Fit to offer universal exercise tracking with 'Joule' heart rate monitor [The Verge]