If you’re the type to ask Alexa to lead you through workouts and guided meditations, you’ll probably be intrigued by Amazon’s latest device. The company recently introduced the Amazon Halo, its take on the fitness tracker.
At first glance, the Amazon Halo seems like your average fitness tracker. It has a cloth band that can be swapped out. It integrates with an app on your smartphone and has a battery life of up to seven days. (Related: Amazon Echo’s Alexa Can Now Answer Your Health Questions)
Like most trackers, the Amazon Halo detects your movement to measure both activity and sleep, and the nuances of each (e.g. walking vs. running; REM vs. deep sleep) are condensed into scores. For example, you might lose points for being sedentary for most of the day or earn points based on how much time you spent in a deep phase of sleep.
Here’s where the Halo diverges from other fitness trackers, though: The Halo can apparently measure your emotional wellbeing by monitoring more than just heart rate variability. Specifically, the Halo is said to be able to pick up on your tone of voice throughout the day through a microphone. By detecting the pitch, intensity, tempo, and rhythm of your speaking, the Halo delivers a daily summary letting you know whether you sounded “hopeful,” “calm,” etc. The “Tone” feature is optional, so you can leave the microphone off if you want.
