The world on where the generations are repeatedly put in comparison: the new ones live on technology, the older ones still tend to consider it a threat. Or a waste of time. Lose time watching the smartphone, do not go out with friends because you hear them so much on Skype, you do not do sports because there are video games … In short, a whole series of clichés that tend to widen the gap between who was there and who there will be on this planet in the future.
What sometimes escapes, however, is that innovation is not something for teenagers and young adults. Technology is for everyone, but above all for everything and this also includes our health and our well-being, things that do not have an age or a precise target.
So what are the gadgets that are trying to improve our existence by worrying about how we are? To be honest often and willingly startups, those that 90 out of 100 end up on Kickstarter, are focusing almost exclusively on sensors and monitors of heartbeat. Zensorium, for example, launched the Tinke, a small device that controls the beating, the level of oxygenation and the frequency with which you breathe, while Oregon Scientific (yes, that of the calculators) thought to combine a clock with a pulse detector creating the Gaiam Touch, as did MY with its Alpha.
Yet there is not only this. Amidst bracelets, smartwatches and small gadgets in a pocket, we find a series of fascinating and curious innovations that allow us to imagine a future tech within the reach of the citizenand truly based on his health and well-being. Which? I’m presenting 5 that I particularly liked.
Beddit
Beddit is a sensor, but no, not one of those I talked about before. This gadget is born with the intent of transforming your bed into a smart bed. Beddit in fact is a small strip powered by USB that is placed under the sheets and is able to track how much you sleep, how many times you get up, how much you put to fall asleep and how you breathe (yes, it tells you even if snore).
But what’s the use of all this? Well, this data is sent to your smartphone via Bluetooth that combines it with those detected by the phone about the amount of light and noise in the room and then provide a summary of the quality of your sleep in a convenient timeline consultable point by point. Basically if you sleep badly, Beddit tells you.
Do not worry, the gadget does not leave you to tell yourself just what is wrong, but also provides personalized advice to improve the time you spend under the covers and integrates in the app also a mechanism to improve your awakenings: you provided a time frame when you absolutely have to get out of bed and he wakes you up at the right time. A nice way to improve the quality of your rest and your days.
HAPIfork
It was January and the CES was in progress when I first came across HAPIfork. The first question I asked was the most obvious: what do we do with an intelligent fork?
Before understanding what it is for, however, I must explain how it works. The HAPILABS gadget keeps track of 4 things …
– How fast you are eating
– How long do you end up your meal
– How many morsels per minute eaten
– How much time passes between one bite and another?
All this because eating slowly avoids accumulating weight, having digestive problems and going into gastric reflux. In short, a good way to acquire new and healthy eating habits, also because if you do not keep the right rhythm, HAPIfork vibrates and warns you that it is time to slow down. Also in this case, all the data collected will end up in your smartphone or on your PC thanks to the dashboard that the company makes available to you and which also integrates new challenges and new objectives, so you will be stimulated to do your best.
A stupid idea? Actually no. HAPIfork works and has implications even in the clinical field since it can be used in hospital to ensure that newly-operating patients eat slowly to avoid stressing weakened tissues after an operation.
Metria Wearable Sensor
Ok, I fell into the trap of the sensor but I’ll explain right away why this yes and others do not. Most of those we are used to seeing are for us: we buy it, use it more or less consistently and take a look at our data. And then? Well, it usually ends here. In the best case you can get some advice from an app or software, but we are far from medical use.
The Metria Wearable Sensor instead is distinguished by two main points: 1) medical use and 2) the “wearable”. The gadget devised by Avery Dennison sticks to the skin without bothering you (so you can keep it running or taking a shower) and collects information that is sent to a central server or a smartphone, but no, it is not necessarily to those who he wears the Metria. The basic difference therefore is that the sensor has been developed to collect and send useful information first of all to those who take care of you and your health, practically to your doctor.
The collected data, ranging from the always useful heartbeat to the quality of sleep, will help your doctor to see if you are well, if you improve or get worse, if there is some examination to be done or if the therapy you are taking is insufficient.
LUMOback
If there is one thing we are starting to lose with the passage of time it is the sense of posture, especially because after 8 hours at a desk is the least of our thoughts. Yet we should not underestimate the power of a correct position of our back. Also in this case the technology comes to us thanks to LUMOback. Also in this case it speaks of “wearable tech” because this gadget is basically a band that should be worn and that monitors in real time your posture, vibrating when you hang instead of being beautiful straight and at attention.
But the goal is not just to give you a shock when you let go instead of maintaining the right posture but to help you change your habits. The method is simple and now you have learned: the data are recorded, you find them on your iPhone (compatibility with Android is coming) and the app teaches you to correct the mistakes, even letting you see how you are put through a small avatar.
Comfortable, light, it lasts 6 days with a refill and is approved by doctors. Basically a coach for posture that you will learn to love.
Withings Tensiometer
I ask you a question: what is the medical instrument within reach of the most widespread user (removing the thermometer clearly)? Well, in all likelihood sphygmomanometer aka the machine that measures the pressure, especially since the purchase of the digital version, the one with the display, began to require about 70 euros avoiding going to the pharmacy to make the various checks.
Of course, as with all things, there is always the possibility of developing something better and even more technological, such as the Withings Tensiometer. The gadget provides data on blood pressure and heart rate, just like the version you buy from the trusted pharmacist, but the difference is that it works with iOS. And so? So instead of manually pinning the results today you have conveniently stored them on your iPhone / iPod Touch / iPad, which makes them easily view able through a chart or comparable by time slot. And then there is sharing. Just a few taps to send everything to your doctor so if something is wrong, you can provide advice immediately.
