In recent years, there has been a growing trend in wearable technology: trackers that look like a fashion accessory and yet are smart enough to help us understand our bodies better. If you’ve ever wondered what comes next after watches and rings, Lumia, an engineering firm from Boston, has just announced its new product – Lumia 2 smart earrings. It took six years to develop, and the result is a tracker that looks like a piece of fine jewellery and provides health data no other wearable has offered before.
Does the feeling of standing up too fast and suddenly getting lightheaded sound familiar? Tracking your blood flow can explain why this is happening, and that’s what sets Lumia 2 apart from other similar devices. With its infrared light sensor, an electronics platform in the back of the left earring measures arterial blood flow in a shallow ear artery – the closest one to the brain.
Most trackers use green light and measure superficial capillaries at the wrist or finger, providing less precise data. Lumia 2 detects drops in blood flow to the head, and this is a crucial factor affecting our energy, focus, and how we generally feel throughout the day. Blood flow changes constantly, and it depends on many things that are easy to control: how heavy your dinner was, how much water and coffee you drank, when you slept, and when you exercised. These changes are pretty hard to measure regularly, which is exactly the problem that Lumia 2 is claimed to solve.
“If wearables are going to help with managing chronic conditions at home – which account for 90% of US healthcare spending – they need clinical-grade data, and the ear is the ideal place to get it. Smart rings were the next evolution after watches; smart earrings are the leap that finally unlocks the healthcare future wearables have been promising for over a decade,” Daniel Lee, Cofounder and CEO of Lumia, told us.
The creators also note that the device isn’t just for people with chronic blood flow disorders – everyone can benefit from knowing and understanding their blood flow patterns. And besides that, Lumia 2 still includes all the standard metrics we are used to: heart rate, sleep tracking, daily readiness, and body temperature.
Made from non-allergenic materials such as platinum and titanium, the earrings come in a variety of styles – Huggie Hoops, Cuffs, or Ball Studs – and will be available in Gold, Silver, and Clear finishes. The smart Core, which sits behind the left ear and contains the sensors, battery, and processors, can also be attached to any earring, so there is no need to replace your favorite pair.
Lumia also claims that its new product is the world’s smallest wearable, with the single "active" earring weighing just 1 gram and being one-fifth the size of an AirPod. To me, that sounds like something I would lose on Day One, but it seems that the engineering team thought of that – the earrings feature a back-locking system that keeps them very secure.
They are designed to be worn 24/7, whether you’re sleeping, exercising, or showering. Even charging can be done without taking them off – the device uses modular swappable batteries that can be easily removed and replaced. One battery pack lasts five to eight days, which is not bad compared to most wearables.
You might think that, due to its design, the Lumia 2 is aimed only at women, but that’s not quite true.
“Like Oura Ring, the large majority of our members are women and going to continue to be even more so as we lean into Smart Earrings. However, we do have the ear cuff option that doesn't require a piercing, which we will offer in a matte titanium and clear color to be very discreet. The clear cuff is what I personally wear as a dude. So yes, it'll be more popular with women but will not be exclusively for women – we will offer cool options for men as well,” Daniel told us.
The original Lumia 1 was developed with researchers at Harvard, Johns Hopkins, and Duke University for Long COVID and POTS patients, but it is important to note that the Lumia 2 is not a medical device and is not intended for diagnosis or treatment. It’s designed to help us better understand our bodies and direct us towards healthier daily habits.
The product only works with a subscription, which gets you access to all the features and free hardware upgrades for US$9.99 per month. The expected retail price of Lumia 2 itself is $249. You can reserve a set – including one active earring and one matching inactive earring – via the company website.
Source: Lumia Health
