Concept: Indian fitness technology startup GOQii has launched a new fitness band, Smart Vital Junior aimed at kids. The ISO certified (International Organization for Standardization) and CDSCO (Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation) registered wearable is rolled out amid a rising number of Covid-19 cases in India.

Nature of Disruption: The Smart Vital Junior features a few health-related services such as real-time tracking of variation in blood oxygen levels, heart rate, temperature levels, and sleep tracking. It comes with a 1.3-inch color display, 230mAh battery that supports personalized watch faces that supports music playback controls, phone finder, and notifications for messages, calls, alarms, and reminders. The smart band has 18 activity modes in-build, including walking, cricket, running, basketball, and tennis. Through the accompanying app, the startup also offers three months of personal coaching, which includes individualized health programs, specific activities, and nutrition classes, and pediatric consultations. GOQii ecosystem combines a smart fitness band, an app, care team including a personal coach, experts, and a doctor to help users meet their health targets. Moreover, its GOQii Health Locker service offers users unlimited cloud storage to securely upload organize and track all their health records.

Outlook: Tests for Covid-19 are expensive and in great demand, hence can be hard to access. Finding a way to more accurately predict who has been infected without relying on lab tests is therefore of high importance. A study conducted by Mount Sinai Health System in New York and Stanford University in California has revealed that wearable technology could play a vital role in stemming the pandemic and other communicable diseases. Smartwatches and other wearable devices that continuously measure users’ heart rates, skin temperature, and other physiological markers can help spot COVID-19 infection. GOQii’s Smart Vital Junior can help individuals to keep track of their health vitals and preventive actions in time before it turns fatal.

This article was originally published in Verdict.co.uk