A smart wristband judges the emotion in your voice

Amazon is making a big leap into the health space with the launch of Halo, a new app and wristband that the company says can detect emotion in your voice by analyzing speech and calculate body fat percentage using just your smartphone’s camera.

The Halo band will be launching in early access starting on Thursday, meaning those interested in trying the service will have to obtain an invite.

The launch marks the online retail giant’s biggest push into health yet, coming after the firm launched a virtual health clinic for employees last September and said it’s building labs to test its workers for COVID-19. It also acquired the online pharmacy PillPack in 2018 for its prescription delivery service.

Amazon is joining a crowded space, competing with the likes of Apple, Samsung, and Google — the latter of which agreed to acquire digital health firm Fitbit last year — among many others. Apple is currently the leader when it comes to wearable technology according to research firm Canalys, which says the company accounted for 36.3% of global smartwatch shipments. Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO, has even said he thinks Apple’s greatest contribution to mankind will be about health.

CNBC