In no other time in history has the heart been so well documented. This is due to the glut of wearables on the market, most of which do a decent job of monitoring heart rate. The biggest problem is usually their size and effectiveness: most are ungainly with questionable methods of data generation, leading consumers to search for smaller, more dependable alternatives.
The FitPal is a thin, flexible Bluetooth LE-enabled patch worn 24/7 on the torso or chest that keeps constant tabs on the heart. It looks at everything from heart rate variability to heart rate zones and resting heart rate, interpreting all this information to monitor a person’s calories burned, steps taken, and skin temperature along with larger attributes like exercise readiness stress levels, and sleep quality, making it a jack-of-all-trades when it comes to wearables.
FitPal has a seven-day battery life, charges wirelessly, and stores up to five days of data users can refer to using the companion iOS/Android/Windows Phone app. Interested backers can grab a FitPal for $199 and expect it to ship in November of 2016 should the $100,000 campaign see success by March 6th, 2016.
Although many wearables measure heart rate these days, most rely on measurements gleaned from the wrist, making the quality of the information suspect at best. Patches like FitPal and the ECHO H2 surely offer a marked improvement in quality, the latter is a disposable. This makes something like FitPal more ecologically and user friendly while still offering comparable features.