These days, there’s no shortage of cool tech that families can wear around their wrists, but it’s about to get more useful and sophisticated with the development of the Sync Smartband. Made in sizes for kids and their grown ups, this little watch-sized wristband promises to help a family track their fitness, health and allergy information, even the whereabouts of the kids in case someone wanders off at the mall.
Currently a fully funded Indiegogo project with a couple of days of fundraising left (hurry!), what I like about the Sync Smartband is that it will provide useful information for people outside of my immediate family too using a free Actvcontent app for iOS and Android that will be available when the watch is ready for sale. So, now babysitters, daycare providers, and neighbors only have to open the app on their device to sync using Bluetooth technology and double check food allergies or other important health conditions. With the ability to track up to eight Sync Smartbands within a certain range, this could be especially handy for larger playdates or in daycare settings.
And, using the location tracker, I can set my iPhone to alert me if my child, wearing the Sync Smartband, wanders beyond a preset range. If you’ve ever bent down to tie one child’s shoelaces at the park and then looked up to find your other child has dashed out of sight, you’ll know exactly what I mean when I say that this is one feature I like very, very much.
While the Sync Smartband is targeted to entire families, I’m not as sold on the Sync Smartband for us grownups unless I really wanted to use it for the fitness and REM sleep tracker, which I’d use to show the kids why their waking me up at night makes mama a cranky bear the next morning. However, I can see how it could be a lifesaver for families caring for older parents who may wander. And perhaps it’d be an incentive for all of us to get a little more active so we could see who “won” the day with the most steps. I’m pretty sure the kids would win always.
The Sync Smartband is available in five colors and is ready for preorder though August 31st with special discounts at Indiegogo. Estimated shipping is February, 2015.
For more fitness tech we’ve found, check out our archives.
