A cellphone case promises to spit out a quick read of your blood pressure, heart rate, blood oxygen, temperature and lung function. But how much data do people really need—or even want—about their bodies’ day-to-day behaviors?
The Wello case, a hard shell made of polycarbonate plastic, will have sensors clustered around four hotspots on the surface of the phone to take readings from your hands.
“We want it to be very simple so you can see how your body is doing any given day,” said Hamish Patel, founder of Azoi, the maker of Wello. “Press on the sensors, open the app and you see your vitals.”
What they don’t tell you in the press release: The $199 Wello case likely won’t be available for iPhone and Android phones until at least the fall because it is still waiting for FDA approval. (That process alone could take 90 days or more.) The case will be manufactured in Texas but sold globally, so the data consumers will see will depend on health regulations in their country.
How accurate will the readings be? The data from the cellphone case will be on par with devices already approved by the FDA such as pulse oximeters, says Patel.
Wello is the latest entrant to the consumer personal health tracking device market that has seen the rise of wristband and clip-on health trackers such as Fitbit, Jawbone Up and Nike+ FuelBand. To start with, Wello will just integrate with Fitbit so users can see Wello data layered on top of their Fitbit stats.
But unlike with activity trackers, health monitors such as Wello could quickly become boring. Most healthy individuals are unlikely to see a change in their heart rate, blood pressure or temperature from day-to-day. Regular vital signs as displayed by the Wello could soon seem monotonous—that’s good news for one’s health but bad for anyone looking to stay interested.
“We are working to get the stickiness factor,” says Patel.