Wearable tech developer Jawbone is set to launch new fitness-tracking devices that will perform some of the most advanced biometric data collection seen yet in a mass-market device, according to a new article by David Pierce on The Verge. The fanciest features will be in Jawbone’s new Up3 wristband, while its disc-shaped Up Move will offer a more price-conscious alternative.
While the Up3 offers a lot of standard biometric functions that are found on many other fitness-tracking devices – an accelerometer, for example – it also boasts of skin and temperature sensors, and sensors that use microcurrents to track bioimpedance measures. Bioimpedance is the body’s resistance against electrical currents, and in its application through the Up3 is allows the device to measure things like heart rate and hydration.
These biometric measures will be used in Jawbone’s Smart Coach software, which will advise users about their exercise and related health habits, in much the same way as the Microsoft Band, and similar to how Apple’s HealthKit system agglomerates biometric information. While the application of such advanced biometric technology is currently limited to Jawbone’s fitness-tracking system, it will be interesting to see how it can be incorporated into the burgeoning field of remote healthcare as the technology is copied and adapted going forward.
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