The Amazon Halo Band doesn’t have a screen or constant notifications but is designed to capture data such as activity, skin temperature and sleep states (including REM, light and deep sleep) via a small sensor capsule, an accelerometer, a heart rate monitor, two microphones and a temperature sensor. The device is water resistant and the built-in battery can last up to 7 days on a 90-minute charge. Customers can choose from three fabric band colors at purchase, with fabric and silicone sport accessory bands available in 15 additional colours.
The corresponding Halo app is designed to give customers a comprehensive understanding of their health and wellness, including body fat percentage as measured via the smartphone camera and what the company describes as “Tone”, as measured by the microphones on the Halo Band. The uses machine learning to analyse “energy and positivity” in a customer’s voice so they can better understand how they may sound to others, helping improve their communication and relationships, said Amazon.
The company also responded to possible privacy concerns about the personal data collected by specifying that the Halo service and Band are built with “privacy in mind,” and that body images and speech samples are always analysed locally on the customer’s phone and automatically deleted from any servers after processing.
