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Coronavirus pandemic: All stories
LifestyleGadgets

A Covid-19 detector on your wrist? That’s what Fitbit is claiming for its new Fitbit Sense smartwatch –it even reads your sweat

  • The Fitbit Sense has a sweat sensor, a heart rate and breathing tracker, a skin temperature sensor, and a six-day battery life
  • Fitbit believes the smartwatch could help in the early detection of symptoms of infectious diseases including Covid-19

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The new Fitbit Sense has enhanced sensors to detect heart and breathing rates and skin temperature and read sweat. With its six-day battery life it could give early warning of infectious diseases including Covid-19.
USA TODAY

Fitbit has unveiled a smartwatch enabled to tell if you may be feeling stressed out or potentially running a fever.

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The company this week announced a trio of health wearables. At the centre of the line-up is the Fitbit Sense, an innovative smartwatch with sensors that help you better understand what might be happening to your body.

The hi-tech device comes with a sweat reading sensor that detects “small electrical changes” to tell you how your body responds to stress. So if your palms get sweaty when you’re feeling anxious the Sense can pick that up, the company claims.

“Our mission to make everyone in the world healthier has never been more important than it is today. Covid-19 has shown us all how critical it is to take care of both our physical and mental health and well-being,” said James Park, co-founder and chief executive of Fitbit.
The Fitbit Sense can read sweat and track skin temperature, heart and breathing rates.
The Fitbit Sense can read sweat and track skin temperature, heart and breathing rates.
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The US$395 smartwatch is equipped with advanced heart rate and breathing rate tracking technology, as well as a skin temperature sensor. Fitbit claims that during early testing, changes in the metrics occurred simultaneously with the onset of Covid-19 symptoms, “and in some cases even before”.

“Wearables may be able to play an important role in the early detection of infectious diseases by acting as an early warning system, which is critical to slowing the spread of Covid-19 and better understanding disease progression,” said Eric Friedman, co-founder and CTO of Fitbit.

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