Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Wearables
  3. News

This smartwatch can predict seizures and analyze your stress

By

While many smartwatches and wearables can seem frivolous, there are actually a lot of extremely smart wearable devices out there that may help save lives. A new Indiegogo project called Embrace pulls together years of experimentation into one thin, light, and attractive device. The Embrace is a smartwatch that analyzes stress levels, tracks activity, and predicts seizures.

The Empatica team, lead by Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) professor Dr. Rosalind W. Picard, began work on a wearable device that measures emotions, including stress back in 2007. The first iteration, called iCalm, was intended to measure stress levels, but one of Picard’s students found that it could also predict seizures. From then on, the team set to work on improving the sensors and ended up making several bulky medical devices that were used in hospitals and research centers. Now, Empatica has a new goal: getting its sensors on the wrists of ordinary people and those who are suffering from seizures.

embrace alert
Image used with permission by copyright holder

Emaptica teamed up with Pearl Studios and the designers behind the Misfit Shine wearable fitness tracker to create a thin and attractive smartwatch that everyone will want to wear. The result, is what looks like an iPad Shuffle clipped onto a wide strap. The Embrace has a no-frills industrial design. There’s no touchscreen and no complicated clasp — you simply slap it on your wrist like one of those bracelets from the ’90s and go about your day. The surface is made of brushed metal and the band comes in different colored fabric and leather. It comes in multiple sizes, including one for children, many of whom often suffer from severe seizures.

Recommended Videos

Embrace tracks the wearer’s electrodermal activity (EDA) through small amounts of moisture that are emitted from the skin. It measures your flight or fight response to situations and thereby analyzes your stress level. The EDA measurement can also be used to predict the oncoming of a seizure, which helps medical professionals and parents prepare for seizures and even prevent them. Embrace can measure brain wave suppression, too, which happens during seizures when brain waves flatten to dangerous levels. Typically, patients have to wear an EEG (electroencephalogram) device to track brain waves. In addition, the smartwatch monitors temperature changes, and sports a gyroscope and accelerometers, which track your activity levels.

Related

Embrace sounds like an amazing medical device that could help save seizure patients’ lives and a cool wearable that keeps tabs on your well-being and fitness levels. Empatica is currently offering a special promotion on Indiegogo, which allows you to buy one for yourself and offers a free Embrace smartwatch to a seizure patient who is in need for just $190. The campaign has already exceeded its fund raising goals, even though it has 23 days left on Indiegogo, as of this writing.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics
Malarie Gokey
Malarie Gokey
Former Digital Trends Contributor
As DT's Mobile Editor, Malarie runs the Mobile and Wearables sections, which cover smartphones, tablets, smartwatches, and…
Razer Anzu smart glasses deal knocks $140 off the price tag
The Razer Anzu smart glasses placed on top of an open book.

While smartwatch deals have slowly claimed their place in the mainstream, smart glasses haven't turned out to be as popular. Gaming-focused brand Razer, however, is trying to renew interest in smart glasses with the Razer Anzu, which you can currently purchase from Best Buy at $140 off. If you'd like to give them a try, they're available for just $60, less than half their original price of $200.

There have been failures like the Google Glass and Snap Spectacles, and hopeful attempts like Oppo's Air Glass and Apple's secretive project, but the Razer Anzu smart glasses take a different spin on the wearable device by designing them for indoors. While they come with polarized sunglass lenses, their clear lenses are more useful with their blue light filter, which protects your eyes from screen glare to prevent discomfort even after hours of playing video games or working from home. The smart glasses, which also have a built-in omnidirectional microphone and speakers, may also be more comfortable to wear for an extended period of time compared to headsets and headphones. You'll enjoy smooth, stutter-free sound with the Razer Anzu's low latency audio with a 60ms Bluetooth connection.

Read more
The best Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 screen protectors
Person holding skateboard while wearing the Samsung Galaxy Watch 4.

A new, sleek design and digital bezel help the Galaxy Watch 4 stand out in the crowd and set it apart from the traditional style of the Galaxy Watch 4 Classic. Whether you've picked up a 40mm model with a 1.2-inch Super AMOLED screen or opted for more screen real estate with the 44mm model, that stand-out design needs protecting from scratches and knocks. That means it's time for our picks of the best Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 screen protectors, with something to suit all budgets.

These screen protectors will all fit the 40mm or 44mm models of the Galaxy Watch 4. If you've got a Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 Classic, these won't fit.
Spigen Glas.tR EZ Fit Screen Protector

Read more
How to remove watch links from the strap on your new watch
how to remove watch links fossil q explorist

There’s no such thing as a one-size-fits-all smartwatch. If your wrists are on the smaller size, then you may find that your new smartwatch is dangling from your wrist and sliding up your forearm. No need to worry — it's a common problem. Chances are there are at least one too many chain links on the strap, but adjusting a metal-link smartwatch band isn't as difficult as you might think — and doesn't usually require a trip to the jewelers.

We'll take you through everything you need to know and the tools you'll need handy to remove links from your smartwatch so it fits snugly on your wrist.

Read more