do wristwatches dream of electric heartbeats?

Speaking of living in the future, this thing is not exactly a Tricorder, but, if it lives up to its hype, it could get very close:

Along with monitoring heart rate, the Basis B1 band uses its sensors to calculate calories burned, amount of physical activity and sleep patterns. The technical centerpiece of the device is the optical engine that tracks heart rate by directing light into the skin to “see” actual blood flow.

The optical engine is complemented by four other sensors including: two heat sensors that tracks skin and ambient temperature changes; a 3-axis accelerometer that records movement and activity; and galvanic skin response sensors that helps track the intensity of activity by measuring sweat levels. The Basis technology is packed into a sophisticated, water-resistant design — a result of a collaboration with New Deal Design. The display provides real-time metrics such as heart rate. The modular design also features interchangeable bands to suit style and color preferences.

I cannot say as though I am a huge fan of my personal, physiological stats being crunched by some cloud-server-in-the-sky, but they do go out of the way to repeatedly confirm that your personal information will not be shared unless you want it to be… aside from their own, internal process-improvement, of course.

Furthermore, I am not wholly convinced that a heart rate monitor (and how good are wrist-based heart rate monitors these days?), a thermometer, an accelerometer, and a sweat-sensor are really sufficient to provide a "big picture" look at your health. I can buy how it would be useful for keeping track of just how much "work" you have done (at least once it has established a baseline for your particular biorhythm), but overall health and well-being? I guess with a long enough data curve, they can track/project anything…

And being the mildly-active person I am, I am concerned about the watch’s waterproofness and watch-y features – two questions they have been dodging recently…

Still, regardless of whether you would like a little-Big-Brother sitting on your wrist tsk-tsk-ing you for being lazy, or whether you actually believe the hype, consider, for a second, that such things are actually possible in this day and age – a wristwatch that tracks your body’s performance, transmits the data to some server somewhere, and provides useful feedback on how to improve your life. Need I point out that the first quartz clock was constructed only a scant 85 years ago, and was about six feet tall? Quartz wristwatches did not make an appearance until 1967, and here we are, with… hell, I do not even know what the proper term for that device is. A body analytics tracker?

Now, take that concept, and combine it with this dongle for your cellphone:

The most exciting potential use, though, is how it could diagnose and monitor people with medical conditions. For example, for diabetes patients there is a direct correlation between the level of acetone in their breath and the level of sugar in their blood. The nanosensor could be used as a completely non-invasive diagnosis and measurement method. Just breathe on your phone. No more pricking your finger a million times a day. We have a pretty serious aversion to the word revolutionary here, but this thing fits the bill.

There is also a correlation between nitrous oxide and lung cancer. Breathing on your phone could give you the early warning you need to catch it in time (or it could tell you you’ve been huffing whipped cream). Scientists have already trained dogs to accomplish this, but this way you won’t have to keep a labrador in your pocket.

Considering other items some of us keep in our pockets that would require something much larger and heavier to provide the same level of service, our pockets are getting to be pretty powerful places indeed. Here is to living in the future – perhaps not one we wanted, but probably better than some alternatives.

(Basis link courtesy of Uncrate, which you really should be following if you are not already.)