Amazon's Halo Rise has much promise for a health tracker. This new device from the world's leading retail company comes with motion sensors to help you better understand your sleeping patterns, among other sleep-tracking mechanisms. It is another brilliant creation from a technological standpoint, but do you need it?
A Look at Amazon's Halo Rise
The Halo Rise is Amazon's latest take on sleep-tracking devices. Unlike previous editions that come as a feature that goes along with Amazon wearables, the new Halo Rise is a no-contact sleep-tracking device that also comes with a smart alarm and a wake-up light.
The official press release tells us that the AI and sensor technology that goes with the device can now provide a highly accurate analysis of sleeping phase patterns.
How do you use it? The smartphone app for the Halo Rise will lead you through connecting it to the internet after plugging it into a wall socket. Next, put it on your nightstand with its face facing your upper body as you sleep.
The app displays a chart of your sleep stages after you get up in the morning, including light sleep, deep sleep, and R.E.M. (for rapid eye movement). It adds up ratings like "Poor" or "Great."
A New York Times reporter asked Dr. Michael Miyamoto, Amazon's medical director, how the company could ensure the accuracy of the Halo Rise data.
Dr. Miyamoto stated that Amazon found the Halo Rise results accurate but that the firm has yet to collaborate with a third party to validate the product's correctness, though it intends to do so.
It is worth noting that significant studies found that devices like the Amazon Halo were more accurate at detecting when people were sleeping than when they were awake, which means that it is not suitable for monitoring different sleep stages.
The Problem with Sleep Trackers
The Halo Rise is Amazon's attempt at a better sleep tracker after adding the feature to previous wrist wearables like the Halo Band. The Halo Rise works as a bedside sleep tracker, an upgrade from the last Halo versions.
Who sleeps with a wristwatch? Amazon finally figured that out. But aside from these surface-level issues, health and fitness trackers from Amazon is notorious for some sketchy privacy features.
Internet safety watchdog Mozilla Foundation tells us that devices like the Halo Band record irking information from users like the tone of voice. It even asks you to record your person in underwear to measure body fat.
Despite assurances of safety measures, journalists and members of the US Congress were still keen to point out how dangerous it would be for an app to record such information.
Now talking about these devices' effectiveness in helping promote healthy sleeping habits, several sources tell us that some issues come with it.
This story from GQ recounts the sleep tracker experience of a career runner with long-running sleeping problems.
"At first, it was fun," Eric Harrison Riddle told GQ. Learning about his sleep phases was informative, but recording a 'bad' night would result in him having an entirely awful day.
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