Wired designated 2015 as “the year wearables will stop being so ugly,” which might be a sign that the industry is taking the distaff side of the marketplace more seriously. For a lot of women, the issue isn’t ugly but too big, too clunky on smaller wrists and frame, which is, well, ugly and awkward. And some health and fitness devices don’t take women’s unique health issues into account at all. Sitebit.com observed,
“… Apple’s HealthKit was criticized for tracking metrics like copper intake and selenium (niche interests) yet not offering women’s reproductive health monitoring at launch. This omission (which Fitbit and MyFitnessPal are also guilty of) is at their peril as consumers complained and female developers have filled the gap by creating successful alternatives.”
Some products are addressing the gender gap by filling in what’s missing. Yono is a soon-to-be-released wearable thermometer that measures basal temperatures for women trying to become pregnant (and never mind that basal temperature has been shown to be useless as an ovulation predictor). Leaf is an attractive health tracker for monitoring activity and stress levels, sleep quality, ovulation, period, and contraception.
And then there’s the Loon Menstrual Cup Kickstarter project, a lightweight (19 grams), reusable cup with a sensor at its base that alerts wearers when it is nearly full. It has a battery and Bluetooth antenna, and fits in the vagina just as menstrual cups have since the 19th century. Unlike 19th century cups, though, the Loon cup sends you emails. Yes, from down there. Which is … odd, even for a Kickstarter.
