Electronics brand Jawbone have launched a wristband by San Francisco designer Yves Behar that monitors your every move then tells you what to do.
A motion sensor in the UP wristband tracks daily activity, exercise and sleep phases, then relays this data to a smartphone app that gives advice for a healthier lifestyle.
It also has a tiny vibration motor that acts as a silent alarm and can be programmed to nudge you into activity.
The app includes a food diary so you can take photos of your meals and note how your body reacts.
The wristband plugs directly into an iPhone, iPad or iPod through the headphone socket and the rechargeable battery lasts for up to ten days, fully charging in 80 minutes.
The band has a springy steel core that’s adjusted by squeezing it around the wrist, although it also comes in three sizes.
It’s designed to be worn 24/7 and is covered in a sweat-proof, waterproof, thermoplastic rubber.
This time last year fuseproject and Jawbone launched the Jambox wireless speaker – watch an interview about it that we filmed with Behar in Milan on Dezeen Screen.
See all our stories about fuseproject here.
Here are some more details from Jawbone:
Jawbone, a leading innovator of products and services for the mobile lifestyle, today unveiled UPTM, a revolutionary system that consists of a small wristband and an engaging App for iPhone and iPod touch that work together to track your daily activity, sleep patterns, and eating habits helping you live a healthier life. UP, originally previewed at TED Global, also integrates a social experience and open content platform to motivate you with personal and team challenges tailored to help you achieve your goals.
Global health is on a disturbing and rapid decline: chronic lifestyle induced conditions such as heart disease, certain forms of cancer, and diabetes are now the leading cause of death in the US and many other parts of the world. The World Economic Forum predicts the global costs of these non-communicable diseases will reach a staggering £30 trillion over the next 20 years. Research shows that simply moving more, improving sleep quality and eating healthier can help prevent most of these lifestyle diseases, yet lasting behavior change is often difficult to achieve. Further studies have however shown that when people are aware of and engaged in their health and can stay consistently involved, they are indeed able to become healthier.
“As the global health crisis mounted, we felt a strong sense of responsibility to see if we could leverage our resources, talents, and ecosystem to try and help make a difference,” said Hosain Rahman, Jawbone CEO and Founder. “UP is Jawbone’s first step in giving people tools to become engaged as consumers of their own health. It’s a complete system designed to integrate seamlessly into one’s total lifestyle, 24 hours a day, not just the few times a week people may work out. We integrated MotionX® with our expertise in building sophisticated technology into small packages, which enabled us to craft a wearable and power-efficient band that beautifully disappears onto your body. And thanks to the success and adoption of the iPhone, millions of users already have beautiful displays and robust computing platforms in their pocket. We harness that amazing display with a fun, engaging iPhone app to bring the band to life. The result is a product experience that you will actually wear and love to keep using.”
UP by Jawbone empowers people to live a healthier life in three key ways: Measure, Engage, and Act.
MEASURE YOUR DAILY PROGRESS
One of the most basic problems in accurately tracking activity is that the sensing device must be on you 24/7 in a form factor that you won’t forget, lose, or dislike wearing. The UP wristband features a sophisticated motion-tracking engine in an attractive, durable, and water-resistant design that seamlessly and unobtrusively integrates into all your daily activities and errands – in the gym, on the trail, with a cocktail dress or business suit, and even in the shower.
“The MotionX® engine inside the UP band is the result of years of technology development and innovation. MotionX is both extremely accurate and power-efficient, which is critical in delivering a 24/7 product experience small enough to wear,” said Philippe Kahn, CEO and founder of Fullpower, developer of the MotionX technology.
The UP App for iPhone ties the experience together by presenting a complete, holistic view of your health.With the “Me” screen, you can get a quick snapshot of your daily activity, how you are sleeping, and what you are eating, while the “Lifeline” feature reveals all of your prior activities (eat, sleep, move) on a continuous timeline. This unique and powerful interface allows you to see your health activity as it relates to each other over time with a simple swipe of your finger.
UP by Jawbone (wristband + App) helps you measure:
- Activity – The band automatically measures and stores all aspects of your activity: steps, calories burned, distance, pace, and active versus inactive time throughout the day
- Sleep – The UP band’s sophisticated motion engine automatically tracks all aspects of your sleep including hours slept, time to fall asleep, phases of sleep (deep versus light) and overall sleep quality.
- Eat – Capturing your meals in a photo journal is as easy as taking a photo with your iPhone or iPod touch. UP tracks where you’re eating, when you’ve eaten, and even asks how you feel after you’ve had time to digest your meal making it an easy way to identify how different foods affect your body.
ENGAGE WITH YOUR FRIENDS
UP helps you stay engaged in reaching your health goals through a collection of friends and people you choose known as your “Team”. Based on the concept of reciprocal motivation, the Team structure creates an environment where individual achievements can be shared with all members so they can cheer on, motivate or compete against their Team. The Team view gives you a snapshot of how each member is progressing towards their personal goals.
The UP App also features a unique Feed screen which gives you an up to date stream of information about all the things you and your friends are doing with respect to your health.
With respect to sharing information and privacy, UP gives you easy-to-use and complete control over the data you want to share with your Team and others. You choose whether or not you want to share at all, if you want to share some things and not others or if you want to share everything – it is totally up to you.
NUDGED INTO ACTION
Throughout your day, UP subtly nudges you into action. It starts with the silent vibration alarm built into the UP band that wakes you at the best moment in your natural sleep cycle so that you get up feeling as refreshed as possible. Similarly, you can set Get Up and Move reminders that subtly vibrates the UP band to alert you when you’ve been inactive after a time period you specify – it’s an easy way to remember to keep moving.
Another unique feature of the UP system is the notion of health challenges. Challenges are a simple way to discover and learn about health activities. They help you create a personalized plan of action to start living healthier by giving you a number of options to stay engaged and motivated to action. Challenges can be individual, competitive, or collaborative across any combination of the three categories: eat, sleep, and move. Built on an open platform, any member in the UP community can create a challenge for their team. Additionally, UP members can join challenges from an ever-growing list of health professionals and organizations through the UP community.
“We think the magnitude of this health epidemic requires an entire community to affect real change and we are delighted to partner with leading innovators. There are so many great folks working on so many great ideas that we created our system as an open platform enabling health experts to connect with individuals in fun, engaging ways that have never been possible before,” continued Rahman. “We want users to find programs and challenges created by experts that are just right for them.”
Jawbone has teamed up with the DailyFeats and GE Healthymagination to create a variety of challenges UP users can sign up for at launch.
AVAILABLE ON NOVEMBER 6
The UP band comes in three sizes (small, medium, large) and seven colors (Dark Black, Dark Brown, Dark Red, Bright White, Bright Silver, Bright Red, Bright Blue) and will be available for £79.99 at Jawbone.com and Apple retailers from November 17th. From January, it will also be available through O2 both online and in store.
The UP by Jawbone App is available today for free from the App Store on your iPhone. The UP wristband is required for the app.