Spire Health Tag makes every clothes smart

Spire sensor

A company called Spire is looking to make every clothes smart. Its newly announced Spire Health Tag is touted as the world’s smallest consumer device that uses advanced algorithms and deep learning to provide personalized, real-time health guidance for sleep, stress, and daily activity by continuously analyzing breath and heart rate inflection points.

The company’s first product, Spire Stone, has been proven to treat mental health and pain-related conditions, with a peer-reviewed study by Stanford University showing it has helped deliver 37 percent more calm- and 25 percent more focus-related breathing patterns among LinkedIn employees. To date, Spire has grossed over $8 million and is one of the only wearables available globally in Apple Stores.

Now, those same research-based health insights are packaged in a nearly invisible form factor that removes distractions and concerns about battery life, maintenance, or even remembering to put it on.

“Everyone has experienced that swing of emotions from anticipation to dulled disappointment to apathy when a new wearable doesn’t fulfill its promises. The behavior change simply isn’t worth it,” Jonathan Palley, co-founder and CEO of Spire, said in a statement. “We created Spire Health Tag with the belief that the health wearable should be completely invisible unless it has something important to tell you in-the-moment. Only by making the wearable disappear can the industry drive better outcomes.”

The Spire Health Tag features what the company calls the “Invisible Form Factor” and is available in packs of 3, 8 or 15 so it could adhere to multiple pieces of clothes such as bras, underwear, pajamas and exercise gear.

Also it is waterproof and has a nearly 2-year battery life, so there’s no need for charging. In addition, each tag has its set of sensors to measure health metrics like activity, sleep, heart rate and heart rate variability, as well as breathing.

In the background, there are machine-learning algorithms that analyze activity and respiration to understand how stress levels, exercise and sleep impact one another and provide personalized real-time recommendations on how to improve health on a daily basis.

From there, actionable insights are delivered through a companion mobile app, which features tailored programs that provide users with insights they care about. Initial programs include: sleep better, stay active, and reduce tension.

Some of the app’s suggestions sound like this:

  • “It took you 26% longer than usual to fall asleep last night. Got time for a quick breathing exercise before bed tonight?”
  • “Today you were 22% less active than usual — and 42% more tense than usual. What can you do to turn this around?”
  • “Awesome workout! You burned 246 cals with an average HR of 163 bpm. You fall asleep 16% faster after working out. Sleep well tonight!”

Spire Health Tag is available for purchase in multi-packs: the 3-pack goes for $99, the 8-pack for $199, while the 15-pack is available for $299.