Nintendo cancels sleep tracker plans

Nintendo has put its plans to release a sleep tracker on hold. The so-called Quality of Life platform, with which Nintendo wanted to take its first step outside of gaming, has therefore been postponed indefinitely.

At the end of 2014, the game console maker announced plans for a device that would track sleep rhythms by using radio waves. The device had to be on the bedside table and keep track of how a user sleeps. The sleeper did not have to wear anything.

The plan was to put the device on sale from March 2016. Nintendo president Tatsumi Kimishima reported on Thursday during a question-and-answer session with investors that the quality-of-life product is not going ahead, although none of the investors asked about it. Nintendo thinks that a device based on the theme of sleep and fatigue is not “commercially viable” at this point.

That doesn’t mean Nintendo doesn’t have any health plans at all. The company continues to research health applications to see if it can expand its business in that direction.