Press release
Introducing Amazon Halo and Amazon Halo Band—A New Service that Helps Customers Improve Their Health and Wellness
Amazon Halo combines a suite of AI-powered health tools with an innovative and stylish wrist band
Body feature uses new computer vision technology to give an accurate body fat percentage measurement from the comfort and privacy of home—as accurately as methods a doctor would use
Tone feature uses machine learning to help customers get a more complete view of their health and wellness by understanding how they sound to others
Use Amazon Halo to monitor Activity and Sleep; plus, discover new tips with Labs—guided programs that help customers discover healthier habits with content from Headspace,
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“Despite the rise in digital health services and devices over the last decade, we have not seen a corresponding improvement in population health in the
Amazon Halo Band—Comfortable, Stylish, and Distraction-Free
A More Comprehensive Approach to Health and Wellness
The Amazon Halo app is a suite of five core features designed to give customers a comprehensive understanding of their health and wellness—and the tools to take action to make measurable improvements:
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Activity: Informed by
American Heart Association physical activity guidelines and the latest medical research, Amazon Halo awards points based on the intensity and duration of movement, not just the number of steps taken. For example, customers will earn points for walking, but will earn more points for running. Medical guidelines also advise that a sedentary lifestyle can negatively impact health, so Amazon Halo deducts one activity point for every hour over eight hours of sedentary time in a day, outside of sleep. A baseline goal of 150 activity points is set and measured weekly. - Sleep: The health benefits of consistently good, sufficient sleep are well documented—as are the potential negative health impacts of not enough or consistently poor sleep. Amazon Halo uses motion, heart rate, and temperature to measure time asleep and time awake; time spent in the various phases of sleep including deep, light, and REM; and skin temperature while sleeping. The sensors in the band allow for continuous sleep monitoring, so customers get rich, detailed information without having to charge the band every day. In the morning, Amazon Halo delivers a sleep score out of 100, any deviation from baseline sleep temperature, and a hypnogram showing time spent in each sleep phase.
- Body: Medical research has shown for years that body fat percentage is a better measure of overall health than just weight or body mass index (BMI) alone, but the tools that measure body fat percentage can be expensive or difficult to access. Using new innovations in computer vision and machine learning, Amazon Halo lets customers measure their body fat percentage from the comfort and privacy of their own home, making this important information easily accessible. The Amazon Halo body fat measurement is as accurate as methods a doctor would use—and nearly twice as accurate as leading at-home smart scales. Learn more about the Body feature.
- Tone: The globally accepted definition of health includes not just physical but also social and emotional well-being. The innovative Tone feature uses machine learning to analyze energy and positivity in a customer’s voice so they can better understand how they may sound to others, helping improve their communication and relationships. For example, Tone results may reveal that a difficult work call leads to less positivity in communication with a customer’s family, an indication of the impact of stress on emotional well-being. Learn more about the Tone feature.
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Labs: Amazon Halo Labs are science-backed challenges, experiments, and workouts that allow customers to discover what works best for them specifically, so they can build healthier habits—for example, some customers might discover that cutting out afternoon caffeine improves their sleep quality, or that a certain type of at-home workout is more effective than others. Customers can choose from labs created by Amazon Halo experts, as well as brands and personalities they already know, including 8fit, Aaptiv,
American Heart Association , Exhale On Demand,Harvard Health Publishing , Headspace,Julian Treasure , Lifesum,Mayo Clinic , Openfit,Orangetheory Fitness , P.volve,Russell Wilson , Relax Melodies, SWEAT, and WW. Additional content from more providers will be added to Labs regularly.
“The American Heart Association is excited about technology that focuses on new and interesting ways for people to improve their cardiovascular health, quality of life, and healthy life years. We’re thrilled to see companies like Amazon innovating in this space,” said
Privacy by Design
Privacy is foundational to Amazon Halo, and multiple layers of privacy and security are built into the service to keep data safe and in customers’ control. Health data is encrypted in transit and in the cloud, and customers can download or delete their data at any time directly from the app. Body scan images are automatically deleted from the cloud after processing, so only the customer sees them. Tone is enabled by creating a personal voice profile, after which it begins capturing short samples of speech and providing insights and daily recaps. Speech samples are always analyzed locally on the customer’s phone and automatically deleted after processing—nobody, not even the customer, ever hears them. Learn more about Amazon Halo privacy features.
Get More with Third Party Program Integrations
Amazon has collaborated with leading health and wellness companies to enable customers to connect their Amazon Halo account to third party programs for even more ways to enhance their health journey. Account linking occurs via the explicit opt-in of the Amazon Halo customer and they can opt back out any time directly from the Halo app.
Members of both WW (formerly Weight Watchers) and Amazon Halo can choose to link their accounts to share Halo Activity information, which the WW app translates to FitPoints. Amazon Halo members also have access to all of WW’s labs any time in the Halo app. WW will offer a variety of promotions, including the ability to get a free
Amazon Halo will be the featured complimentary wearable for the John Hancock Vitality wellness program, including three years of Halo membership. Vitality members can choose to link their
Amazon Halo is now integrated into Cerner solutions to enable consumers to easily share health information with their care teams and directly into their electronic health record (EHR). Amazon Halo members will be able to share their body fat percentage with participating care providers as well as activity and sleep data with Cerner Consumer Well-being programs.
Pricing, Availability, and Colors
Customers in the
Customers can choose from three color combinations for their
The Amazon Halo app is available on iOS and Android.
About Amazon
Amazon is guided by four principles: customer obsession rather than competitor focus, passion for invention, commitment to operational excellence and long-term thinking. Customer reviews, 1-Click shopping, personalized recommendations, Prime, Fulfillment by Amazon, AWS,
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