Whoop, maker of the screen-free fitness tracker of the same name, may soon have some competition. Fitbit teased its take on a Whoop-style band with the help of Steph Curry in late March, and based on a trademark filing, it was spotted Gadgets and wearablesIt appears that Garmin is working on its own band that tracks similar health metrics.
The new Garmin wearable device, called “CIRQA” in a trademark filing submitted in February, is designed to measure “body physical parameters and other physiological data, bio-signals and physiological behavior.” This could broadly describe the smartwatches and fitness trackers that Garmin already sells. But CIRQA clearly goes further, measuring “recovery from physical and emotional stress, human alertness levels and performance,” a set of more nuanced, wellness-focused features that could bring the untested wearable into the same ballpark as Whoop.
In January, via a hastily deleted store page, Garmin accidentally leaked that it was working on a new wearable device, Android Authority Report. Although some Phantom web pages and trademarks do not guarantee that Garmin is working on a new device, or that the band will be screen-free in the same way as the Whoop is. However, if the company is grooming a competitor, the timing makes sense. Where other devices try to split the difference between tracking biometrics and offering real-time information or other smartwatch features, the Whoop is decidedly data-first. Its wearable devices monitor as much information as possible via a nondescript band, and then analyze and display what they’ve learned via a smartphone app. This approach is attractive to anyone tired of dealing with screens, and to the growing number of people obsessed with optimizing their health. In fact, Whoop has raised $575 million on the strength of its current success. It makes sense that Garmin and Google (via its Fitbit brand) would want a share of the company’s audience as well.
Whoop-style bands are also a perfect fit for the future use of AI in health and fitness tracking. Google is interested in having users turn to Fitbit’s AI-powered health coach for everything from workout tracking to nutrition advice. If health data processing is going to happen in the cloud, and you have to take out your smartphone to view that data, selling a tracker without a screen makes sense.
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