Rumor has it that Apple’s so-called iWatch will be capable of reading your blood pressure, heart rate and other vital signs. But you may not have to wait until its release to purchase such a device. Meet the ‘Wello,’ the all-in-one health-tracking iPhone case.
The Wello has built-in sensors that can give you a picture of your overall health after holding it for just a few seconds. It measures heart rate, blood pressure, temperature, and blood oxygen levels—and can even test your lung function via a small attachment…
Engadget recently went hands-on with a prototype of the device:
“Designed to be both fast and simple to use, the prototype we tried out this week was ultra-light, and thinner than the Speck case on one of our iPhones. Readings are done with your hands in a comfortable position, and the health tracker was able to return our vital signs as well as a fancy ECG graph of our heart in just a few seconds. Out of the box, you’ll be able to pair it with your Wi-Fi scale and fitness tracker, so you can keep an overall picture of your health in the same place. Over time, additional add-ons could become available for the case to test for other things like glucose. Everything you track can be viewed on a daily, weekly, or monthly scale so you can see at a glance if your health starts to change.”
The technology being used here is very impressive, and extremely relevant right now. Intel just acquired health-tracking-startup Basis, Samsung is adding heart rate sensors to anything it can, and Apple is hiring doctors, scientists and other medical experts.
The Wello is currently pending FDA approval, but when it ships it will support the iPhone 4s, 5 and 5s with a price tag of $199. Pre-orders start today in the US, Canada and other countries, and early buyers can earn $10 for each person they can get to pre-order.