There are a number of bio-metric accessories for health that are hitting the market these days. The accessories read and collect a variety of different types of bio-metric data (such as your heart rate, movement, and body heat), connect to your smartphone, and visualize the data through an application that helps you make sense of the data and keeps you on track toward better health. Spawned by successful products such as Nike+, cheaper components, and the Quantified Self movement, here are a just a couple that are making the rounds...
Zeo Sleep Manager
Zeo Sleep Manager is a wearable accessory and smartphone app that tracks and improves the quality of your sleep. The headband tracks your actual sleep stages through the night and how much restorative REM and Deep sleep you actually get. It then sends them wirelessly to the bedside display and your phone where it shows you how you slept, including how much time you spent in REM and Deep sleep, which are critical for mental clarity, physical well-being and peak performance. Zeo also gives you an overall sleep score you can track over time.
An interesting idea, however, I have just one question for you Zeo...is there really no other solution than to make me strap hardware to my forehead while I sleep? From a wearability perspective, this could be very uncomfortable for those who might toss and turn and simply unsexy.
Jawbone Up
Jawbone Up is flexible smart wristband and smartphone app that work together to help you live healthier. However, it's plagued with a nightmare's worth of hardware and battery problems for their v1 product. (A friend of mine is on his 4th band within just 1 month. Yikes!) But once they iron out the kinks, this accessory and experience has potential to be a great addition to a health-oriented lifestyle.
LUMOback
LUMOback is an exciting new product that is getting ready to hit the market in 2012. The experience includes a thin, flexible and wireless sensor adhesives that you put on your skin. These LUMOback sensors monitor and measure your posture in real-time. When you are slouching, it sends you small gentle vibrations to your lower back reminding you to sit up nice and straight on your iPhone.
Overall, we're seeing more sensor accessories + mobile app-based experiences focused on health and lifestyle. It will be interesting to see how they do on the market and how long they will last.