SensoTRACK – Backerjack

MyBiody Balance sensor checks vitals, keeps you fit and healthy

Many connected fitness devices don’t provide health insights that go much beyond the number of steps being taken by the user and the number of calories burned.

MyBiody Balance from French company Biody Balance & Régime Connecté (BBRC) fully takes into account user data including age, weight, size and gender. It can be used by fitness enthusiasts, seniors, athletes, or any other consumers who would like a way to better monitor their health.

This portable device relies upon bioelectrical impedance (bio-impedance) analysis, a commonly used system of estimating body composition. The device performs an immediate body check-up when pressed against a user’s ankle, measuring and analyzing body composition accurately and in real time. In order to do this, it also takes into account muscle mass, hydration, fat mass, bone mineral content and excess weight. The data can easily be viewed on an intuitive dashboard available on smartphones, tablets and computers. The campaign seems to be missing from CrowdedRocket, but the product can still be checked out on the Web site.

MyBiody Balance may well be more accurate than many other wearable fitness devices on the market, such as SensoTRACK, Fitbit and Jawbone. However, MyBiody Balance lacks the wearable component of rival devices. Some consumers might see that as a benefit, but others, especially those who like to show off their latest tech gadgets, will see that as a drawback. The latter camp may see this more as a medical instrument along the lines of a thermometer than an appealing new tech toy.

Although wearable technology is on the up and up, you still need to wear a a few different bands along with a watch of some sort to get a mostly full picture of the way your body works across disparate variables. Even if you were fully equipped with all this technology, they wouldn’t necessarily talk to each other — leaving you to figure out what it all means.

SensoTRACK was born out of the desire to give a user as much connected data as possible to not only benefit their daily lives, but their exercise regimens as well. Sensogram Technologies, Inc. sets out to make a device that could withstand the rigors of physical activity, and so constructed it from a weather-resistant, sweat-proof shell that fits around the ear. The SensoTRACK houses a gyroscope, an accelerometer, and a proprietary “optical biosensor” that measures heart rate, blood pressure and oxygen saturation with a high degree of accuracy. It also includes a speaker that gives users real-time feedback on what exactly to do in order to increase the efficiency of their workout, based on goals that can be entered into the web portal or the mobile app. SensoTRACK can be had for $199, and the company hopes for enough backers to fulfill their $250,000 goal.

The crowdfunded world is full of the types of wearables that make the criticisms of the market seem justified. Some, like Arcus or Olive, are focused on one type of user benefit. On the other hand there are a few, like Zoi or LEO, are aiming to use the data in real-time to benefit the user. SensoTRACK falls into the later camp but shrinks the device down and places it on the ear where it’s out of the way. Add this to the claimed sensitivity of the proprietary sensor and it may be something to look out for, only if the seemingly unending number of features don’t end up hampering it as a result.