Consumer Innovation Shout Out: The Latest Wellness Assistant

The last decade has seen enormous leaps in both wearable technology that tracks your fitness. Think Apple Watch, Fitbit and other wifi-connected smart home technology. Linksys’ Wellness Pods likely represent what the next decade has in store for wellness assistants.

Wellness pods build on the already innovative “Aware” feature developed for Linksys’ Velop Tri-Band routers. In short, the Aware software is able to measure subtle disturbances in the wifi network by people or animals moving through any covered room to provide a basic motion-sensor capability. The Wellness Pods supercharge that capability by increasing the measurement accuracy 50-fold. This means that subtle movements, such as as breathing or restless sleep, can be detected and measured with a high-degree of accuracy without the use of cameras.

One immediate application of this technology is to provide a remote monitoring capability for the health and wellness of loved ones (young or old) from any distance. The system is being designed to detect quick movements and integrate with other smart home technology, like Amazon Alexa. For example, if someone falls suddently, it can communicate with that person and call for help if necessary. Although exact pricing and release dates of the Wellness Pods have not yet been announced, this technology shows immense potential, albeit not without obvious security risks. So while it is still a question as to how much demand this technology will draw, here’s a shoutout to Linksys for pushing the next generation of wellness technology.

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