Culture

Amazon’s New Fitness Band Will Listen To Your “Tone” And Tell You If You Sound Like A Jerk

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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.”

https://twitter.com/backlon/status/1298969366139228163

Unsurprisingly, not everyone was thrilled by these new features.

https://twitter.com/Bret_A_Saurus/status/1299008480355860480

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.