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Health tech startup Cardiogram has raised $2 million in a seed round led by the a16z Bio Fund for an app that screens users’ cardio health and gives them help improving or maintaining it.
The company started out with an Apple Watch integrated app, initially. But it is ultimately planning to be a “device agnostic” business, and to make its app utilizable with all manner of wearables such as Android Wear watches, or various fitness bands and activity trackers from the likes of Fitbit or Garmin.
In addition to the seed funding round, Cardiogram today unveiled what it’s calling “an app store for habits,” in which it features apps for guided meditation, or physical and mental health exercises, which the startup believes will help its users improve or maintain good heart health....
We know that getting people to engage in healthful behaviors is a priority, but we've failed miserably.
But, there are rays of hope. As digital technologies like the Web and mobile have gained in popularity, some have used these tools to nudge people to engage in healthier behaviors.
For example, Stanford professor BJ Fogg has made a career of demonstrating (and teaching others) how computers, mobile tools and other digital technologies can be used to shape health behavior....
...Apple appears confident of the new product. According to a parts manufacturer, it plans monthly commercial output of about 3-5 million units, which exceeds the total global sales of watch-like devices last year.
This confidence is backed by its partnerships with high-profile hospitals — it has teamed up with the Mayo Clinic and the Cleveland Clinic, U.S. health institutes based in Minnesota and Ohio, respectively, to develop specific ways of analyzing the collected data and applying it to actual health management....
Samsung’s forthcoming Simband, pitched as a common platform for wearable health sensor development, will record and analyze user vital signs in real time. Data will be uploaded directly to the cloud, with out the need for a smartphone.
Simband has multiple sensors, a thin removable battery and a small motherboard. It is powered by a 1GHz dual-core Arm A7 processor and equipped with Bluetooth and Wi-Fi radios....
Hugh Herr and his colleagues at MIT s Biomechatronics group develop artificial limbs that complete or augment the human body. His presentation is amazing, but if you re short on time skip to 13:40. Really, watch the whole thing.
Introducing disposable diapers you and your pediatrician can use to track your child's health Smart Diapers work with our app to keep track of your child's health.
Forget wristbands – The Ear is the new Wrist.
There’s a new bubble in technology – the wristband. Fuelled by Nike’s success, Jawbone’s on the Up, Polar’s in the Loop, Sony’s trying to Force its way into the game, while Fitbit’s aiming to stay as number One. (If you’ve ever wondered how branding executives choose their product names, that’s how.) Analysts are falling over each other to estimate how large the market will be by 2018. They’re wetting themselves at the prospect of smart watches, seeing the wrist as the saviour of the high tech industry now that smartphones have lost their Shine. (Which has nothing to do with the wrist, but that’s another story.) Currently Credit Suisse holds the prize for unwarranted optimism with a prediction of a market value of up to $50 billion for wearables in 2018. I think they’ve all missed the largest potential market for wearables – a category I’m going to call Hearables. The ear is the new wrist.
BlueMaestro’s Pacifi monitors a baby’s temperature and transmits the data to a parent’s phone or tablet. Its app plots the data in a graph. Parents can record when medication was administered, set-up alerts, and share the information with nannies and doctors.
GoBe is the first and only wearable device that automatically measures the calories you consume and burn, through your skin--by reading the glucose in cells.
GoBe is the only way to automatically measure calorie intake—through your skin, by reading the glucose in your cells. Simply wear it to see calories consumed and burned, activity, hydration, sleep, stress levels, and more, delivered effortlessly to your smartphone.
Everything else is just a manual calorie tracker. Only GoBe precisely calculates calorie intake, burn, and metabolic rate during any activity, with no logging, tracking, or guesswork....
Instead of just collaborating with tech companies on wearable devices, fashion designers may soon be able to launch their own.
Via Yolanda O'Leary
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A while back we were introduced to AmpStrip: an innovative wearable that contains a thermometer, accelerometer and heart rate sensor, all packed into a barely-there Band-Aid-like strip. From what we saw at CES 2015, it was all set to swoop in and revolutionize how we look at wearables, with its practicality and ease of use unlike anything available to date. However, the startup company FitLinxx announced today that it has discontinued the product as a fitness tracker available to the public and will instead focus on the product's potential medical applications.
AmpStrip was originally a crowdfunding project on Indiegogo that closed on September 16, 2015 and in that time the startup managed to raise over $500,000 USD for the project (734% over the target goal). Steven Schwartz, Head of Marketing at FitLinxx, confirmed the change of direction on the product page stating: "After much discussion and debate, we have decided to suspend development of AmpStrip as a fitness product. Going forward, we are going to first focus on the device's potential uses as a medical device rather than a fitness device."...
Brain Power‘s Google Glass apps and hardware help autistic kids develop social and communication skills, and provide feedback to parents.
The device’s accelerometer tracks children’s head gestures when they look or don’t look at parents, as well as repetitive movements. “Social engagement module monitors” assess the child’s engagement, specifically if they are looking at a parent’s face and eyes. Software helps the wearer interpret expressions through games and exercises. The goal is to help them understand facial emotions when they aren’t wearing Glass.
To develop language skills, objects are identified through machine vision, and their names are displayed and spoken through the speaker or earbud. Children will eventually receive personalized language and conversation coaching. Software will also use the accelerometer to predict over-excitement and provide calming suggestions.
Airmen at the Wright-Patterson Air Force Base are testing bandage-like sensors that analyze sweat to assess physical and cognitive performance. This is based on a study by Dr. Josh Hagen of the Air Force Research Lab. The sensors notify users when stress, dehydration, and other health issues are detected.
“Our vision is that every Airman at the beginning of their week, will be able to put on an electronic band aid that will quantify everything about them,” said Hagen. “It would measure the typical things a doctor would measure in a checkup.”
First Warning, the breast cancer sensing bra company, has changed its strategy. They will now use the same temperature-fluctuation sensors from their smart bra in a device inserted into one’s existing bra. The data will be sent to a user’s smartphone.
The sensor finds cancer by detecting tiny metabolic temperature changes caused by cancerous cells in a tumor. The temperature readings are sent back to a global library where they’re run through a proprietary algorithm. Then the results are sent back to a user’s phone....
Lumo Back features include activity tracking, doctor approval, a slim sensor that no one will know you're wearing, and very long battery life.
ly The AliveCor Heart Monitor fits on most mobile devices. It simply rests on your fingers or chest to record an ECG.
AliveCor’s proprietary technology converts electrical impulses from user’s fingertips into ultrasound signals transmitted to the mobile device’s microphone. Fast, efficient signal transmission results in minimal battery drain....
A new skin patch is able to track various health indicators and send data wirelessly to a PC or smartphone.
...Made using nanomaterials, the patch is a soft and flexible rectangle that adheres to the skin. An advanced microchip structure enables the patch to pick up on the most subtle body movements and to interpret abnormal movements such as tremors....
The Cefaly headband is a battery powered device that may prevent migraine headaches. It works by pressing a self adhesive electrode, positioned at the center of person’s forehead, which sends an electrical signal through the skin to the trigeminal nerve. By stimulating the nerve, the device was shown to help prevent the migraine headaches in a study of 67 people. This week the FDA approved it for marketing..
Melon is a brain monitoring headband and mobile app that allow you to track and train your ability to focus, relax, and meditate.
An activity monitor for your brain that teaches you about cognitive performance. Turn the invisible activity of your mind visible! Melon's brainwave monitoring headband listens to the electrical activity naturally given off by your brain. Using Bluetooth 4.0LE, Melon connects to your phone to help you track and train several mental states, including focus, meditation, and relaxation. The mobile app lets you understand how your behavior affects how you feel and teaches you how to improve. The headband is adjustable in the back to fit all head sizes for people ages 10 and up. Delivery set for Summer 2014.
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Health and workplace applications ahead for wearables.