#AmazonHalo: Jaw-Dropping New Health-Monitoring Wearable & Service Revealed via @forbes https://t.co/JySWzQFnd7 #technology
— Janice Dash (@Trazlersgal) August 27, 2020
Amazon just revealed its new fitness wearable, which it hopes will compete with the Fitbit and the Apple watch. It’s called the Halo and it has some pretty notable features that set it apart, including the ability to take a 3D image of your body and tell you what your body fat % is. It can also listen to your voice when you say things and then tell you how you sound to other people, with a feature called “tone.”
Uh Amazon Halo is a LOT. Uses smartphone camera to make a 3D model of your body and measure body fat %. Uses fitness band mic to listen to the tone of your voice and tell you if you’re being a jerk.
Oh and it’s also a normal (screenless) fitness tracker https://t.co/MxzuEBC7sc pic.twitter.com/sntWg9Ka2U
— Dieter Bohn (@backlon) August 27, 2020
Unsurprisingly, not everyone was thrilled by these new features.
The new Amazon fitness tracker has a feature called "Tone"
What is it?
If you allow the band to listen passively in the background it can detect your emotional state by the way your voice sounds.
This has to be the best excuse to spy on us thus far.https://t.co/R6OJutUbiz
— Nicholas Grous (@GrousARK) August 27, 2020
How excited is everyone for Amazon Halo to tell you that you should smile more??
— Bret Salazar (@Bret_A_Saurus) August 27, 2020
How special for 70$ you can put a bug on your wrist so big brother can listen to your entire life! Amazon halo is the literal internet of things …
— 🕯🔮Nixx☠️Blackwood🔮🕯 (@NixxBlackwood) August 27, 2020
"the Halo Band will monitor your tone to determine if you’re feeling positive enough to get through your day. Each morning, you’ll get a breakdown of your tonal patterns with tips on how to sound warmer"
STOP TROLLING ME REALITY https://t.co/s3xU7IsLSg
— McJulie is having a normal one I guess (@mcjulie) August 27, 2020
I can understand why someone might not want to find out that their tone comes off “bitchy” or “suicidal.” My entire life, people have told me the problem isn’t so much with what I said, it was how I said it. And that only makes you more angry. Last thing I need is some AI wearable scrutinizing my tone.
And then there are the privacy concerns:
CNBC– Amazon has stressed its commitment to privacy with this new device and pledged that it won’t use the insights to sell health-related products to its users. But it is a way for the company to learn more about its users’ health habits and gather feedback along the way.
Sure, Amazon. You’ve been so trustworthy in the past. Can’t wait to have you use my angry rant about shooting 102 in the club championship because my girlfriend demands so much more of my time these days that I don’t have the necessary hours I need to practice in order to have an actual shot at contending… into a slew of targeted ads for a soothing cascading fountain.
I think it’s a pass for me. But if you want to be body-shamed AND tone-shamed in the same day, this wearable is for you.