By Samantha Kelly / Bloomberg
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The co-founders of Fitbit, nearly six years after agreeing to sell their company to Alphabet Inc’s Google, are launching a new type of wearable tracker: A screen-free device aimed at continuously monitoring family members, including aging parents.The company, called Luffu, announced its first hardware product on Tuesday, prioritizing a jewelry-like design over the clunky appearance of traditional medical devices. The news comes as wearable giants such as Whoop, Oura, Garmin and Google embrace increasingly sophisticated screenless devices that focus on serving as sensor packs that pair with smartphone apps.Luffu co-founder James Park said in an interview that the new device, called the Luffu Link, and an accompanying app that went into beta testing earlier this year are designed to help families coordinate care for family members.
Rory McIlroy wears a Whoop band during a practice round on June 17 prior to the 126th US Open at Shinnecock Hills Golf Club in Southampton, New York.
“We’ve seen location tracking, family calendars, fitness devices, emergency pendants and smart home tools. But at the end of the day, someone still has to manually piece all of these features together,” Park said. “Many artificial intelligence [AI] agents focus on consumer tasks like booking travel or restaurants, but we wanted to build an integrated ecosystem for the family that directly supports safety and care coordination.”The US$300 (US$250 for preorders beginning on Tuesday) Luffu Link wearable, launching in blue, black and gold color options early next year, supports location sharing, health sensing — such as activity, sleep and heart rate — the ability to get help from family members, and voice logging for medications, meals, mood, doctor visit updates and reminders. It offers up to five days of battery life and connects to cellular networks to allow for the sending of voice messages or health data to trusted contacts without a phone nearby.
