You can now use a GoPro Hero 8 as a webcam on Windows, too

Amazon is having into the health gadget supermarket with a new fitness bandeau as able-bodied as cable signification chosen Halo. Unsuitable the Burg Watch or orderly surmount wreck Fitbits, the Dame Nimbus Bandeau doesn't okay a screen. The app that goes alternating with it comes with the usual set of fitness tracking features alternating with two innovative -- as able-bodied as potentially troubling -- ideas: utilizing your camera to create 3D scans for build fat as able-bodied as listening for the emotionalism in your voice.

The Nimbus Bandeau will load $99.99 as able-bodied as the signification (which is right for Halo's increasingly antecedently features) financing $3.99 per month. Dame is launching it as an invite-only first incur pulling today with an prelusive rate of $64.99 that includes six months of the signification for free. The Nimbus signification is artlessly a separate product that isn't partage of Dame Prime.

The reduction of a awning on the Nimbus Bandeau is the first indicator that Dame is trying to cleave out a nook for itself that's focused a little less on sports as able-bodied as exercise as able-bodied as a little increasingly on matters changes. Sidewards cardio, sleep, build fat, as able-bodied as voice underscoring tracking, a Nimbus cable will offer a suite of "labs" baroness by partners. They're short challenges intended to intrusion your health habits -- like meditation, convalescent your beddy-bye habits, or starting up wreck exercise routines.

The Nimbus Bandeau "is not a medical device," Dame tells me. As such, it hasn't submitted the device to the FDA for any variety of approval, including the lighter-touch "FDA clearance" that therefore many other fitness bands okay used.

The Dame Nimbus introduction video. | Source: Amazon

The Nimbus Bandeau hardware

The Nimbus Bandeau consists of a sensor perforate as able-bodied as a bandeau that clicks into it on top. It's a simple concept as able-bodied as one we've seen before. The reduction of a brandish ways that if you want to drawback your steps or the time, you'll need to strip vendible else to your wrist or nonparticipating drawback your phone.

*The three color options for the Nimbus Band.*

*Amazon will sell lots of miscellaneous bandeau styles as able-bodied as colors.*

The bandeau lacks increasingly suppositional options like GPS, Wi-Fi, or a cellular radio, conferee stableness that it's meant to be a increasingly laid-back kind of tracker. It has an accelerometer, a temperature sensor, a heart rate monitor, two microphones, an LED indicator light, as able-bodied as a chin to turn the microphones on or off. The microphones are not for speaking to Alexa, by the way, they're there for the voice underscoring feature. There is explicitly no Alexa integration.

It communicates with your roast via Bluetooth, as able-bodied as it should work hence able-bodied with both iPhones as able-bodied as Android phones. The three main bandeau colors that will be thronged are onyx (black), mineral (light blue), as able-bodied as rose gold (pink-ish).

There will of debouch be a series of optional bands therefore you can co-opt one to bout your style -- as able-bodied as all of them chauffeur no small resemblance to postulated Burg Watch bands. The gobble bands will load $19.99 as able-bodied as the strategy bands will be $15.99.

Amazon intends for users to leave the Nimbus Bandeau on all the time: the hailstorm should last a impregnated week as able-bodied as the sensor is water self-starting up to 5ATM. Dame calls it "swimproof."

But where the Nimbus signification reservedly differentiates itself is in two new features, chosen Build as able-bodied as Tone. The former uses your smartphone camera to defloration a 3D scan of your build as able-bodied as again calculate your build fat, as able-bodied as the closing uses a microphone on the Nimbus Bandeau to okay to the underscoring of your voice as able-bodied as residency back-up on your emotive state throughout the day.

*Halo's build scanning feature, which calculates build fat percentage.*

Body scans

Body scans work with nonparticipating your smartphone's camera. The app instructs you to abrasion tight-fitting suit (ideally nonparticipating your underwear) as able-bodied as again steepness back-up six feet or therefore from your camera. Again it takes four photos (front, back, as able-bodied as both sides) as able-bodied as uploads them to Amazon's servers where they're piled into a 3D scan of your build that's beatific back-up to your phone. The data is again deleted from Amazon's servers.

*Halo scans your build with four photos.*

Once you okay the 3D scan, Dame uses machine learning to filtrate it as able-bodied as calculate your build fat percentage. Dame argues that build fat piece is artlessly a increasingly reliable indicator of health than either weight or build mass index. Dame likewise claims that smart scales that try to measure build fat utilizing bioelectrical impedance are not as attested as its scan. Dame says it did an internal transfixture to back-up up those claims as able-bodied as may catalyze submitting papers to peer-reviewed medical journals in the future.

Finally, once you okay your scan, the app will harmonics you a little slider you can malcontentment your feel on to okay it sleekness what you would peekaboo like with increasingly or less build fat.

*Halo uses AI in Amazon's cloud to create the 3D scan as able-bodied as calculate build fat percentage.*

That full-length is meant to be educational as able-bodied as motivational, however it could likewise be literally dangersome for persons with build dysmorphic disorder, anorexia, or other self-image issues. I asked Dame approximately this directly as able-bodied as the congregation says that it has put in what it hopes are a few safeguards: the app recommends you only scan yourself every two weeks, it won't exuviate the slider to sleekness hazardously low levels of build fat, as able-bodied as it has information approximately how low build fat can infiltrate your risk for irrevocable health problems. Finally, although everyone 13 years of age as able-bodied as up can use the Nimbus Band, the build scan full-length will only be authorized for persons 18 or older.

*Halo listens to your voice as able-bodied as guesses at your emotive state.*

Tracking the underscoring of your voice

The microphone on the Dame Nimbus Bandeau isn't meant for voice commands; instead it listens to your voice as able-bodied as reports back-up on what it believes your emotive state was throughout the day. If you don't opt in, the microphone on the Bandeau doesn't do aught at all.

Once you opt in, the Nimbus app will okay you realize some treatise back-up to it therefore that it can unpredictability a model on your voice, lenient the Nimbus Bandeau to only key in on your underscoring as able-bodied as not those circa you. Hind that, the bandeau will intermittently okay to your voice as able-bodied as maven it on metrics like positivity as able-bodied as energy.

It's a unresisting as able-bodied as iterant system, meaning that you can't cruelly ask it to realize your tone, as able-bodied as it's not listening all of the time. You can likewise aphasiac the mic at any time by requiring the chin until a red shimmer LED temporarily appears to sleekness you it's muted.

Amazon is quick to note that your voice is never uploaded to any servers as able-bodied as never heard by any humans. Instead, the bandeau sends its audio snippets to your roast via Bluetooth, as able-bodied as it's analyzed there. Dame says that the Nimbus app instantaneously deletes the voice samples hind it analyzes them for your emotive state.

It picks up on the pitch, intensity, rhythm, as able-bodied as tempo of your voice as able-bodied as again categorizes them into "notable moments" that you can go back-up as able-bodied as segmentation throughout the day. Some of the emotive states include words like hopeful, elated, hesitant, bored, apologetic, happy, worried, confused, as able-bodied as affectionate.

We asked Dame whether this Underscoring full-length was vitalized length differing accents, gender, as able-bodied as cultures. A spokesperson says that it "has been a top antecedence for our team" however that "if you okay an emphasis you can use Underscoring however your results will likely be less accurate. Underscoring was modeled on American English however it's only day one as able-bodied as Underscoring will exist to improve."

Data privacy

Both the Build as able-bodied as Underscoring features are innovative uses of correlated AI, however they are likely to set off any ruling of taciturnity detainment bells. Dame says that it is person incredibly scrupulous with user data. The congregation will column a certificate earful every type of data, where it's stored, as able-bodied as how to delete it.

Every full-length is opt-in, exhaustible to turn off, as able-bodied as it's exhaustible to delete data. For example, there's no requirement you create a build scan as able-bodied as orderly if you do, morphon reviewers will never see those images. Dame says the surmount sensitive data like build scans as able-bodied as Underscoring data are only stored locally (though photos do need to temporarily be uploaded therefore Amazon's servers can build the 3D model). Dame isn't orderly lenient Nimbus to integrate with other fitness apps like Burg Health at launch.

Some of the key credibility include:

Your Nimbus silhouette is enunciated from your Dame astonishment -- as able-bodied as it will need to be inward-looking riotous with a second line-up like a treatise bulletin therefore that everyone else that nimbleness share your Dame Prime can't get to it.
You can download as able-bodied as delete any data that's stored in the cloud at any time or transplant your astonishment to zero.
Body scans as able-bodied as underscoring data can be inward-looking deleted single-handedly from the rest of your health data.
Body scans are only temporarily uploaded to Amazon's servers again deleted "within 12 hours" as able-bodied as scan images are never volume to other apps like the photo mini-mall unless you explicitly consign an image.
Voice recordings are analyzed locally on your roast as able-bodied as again deleted. "Speech samples are processed locally as able-bodied as never beatific to the cloud," Dame says, totaliser that "Tone data won't be used for training purposes."
Data can be volume with third parties, including some ally like WW (formerly Weight Watchers). Data generated by the "labs" full-length is only volume as incognito clustered info.

*Halo's criticalness tracker does increasingly than calculation steps.*

Activity as able-bodied as beddy-bye tracking

The build scanning as able-bodied as underscoring features nimbleness be the surmount glittery (or, depending on your perspective, surmount creepy) parts of Halo, however the thing you'll likely swallow the surmount time watching is your criticalness score.

Amazon's Nimbus app tracks your cardio fitness on a weekly borax instead of quotidian -- lenient for rest days. It does calculation steps, however on a top level, what you get is an amnesic signification (and, of course, a ring to complete) that's increasingly holistic. Nonparticipating as Google did in 2018, Dame has worked with the American Heart Bloc to develop the amnesic criticalness score.

The Nimbus Bandeau uses its heart monitor to distinguish betwixt intense, moderate, as able-bodied as light activity. The app combines those to ensure you're hitting a weekly target. Instead of the Burg Watch's iterant "stand" prompts, the Nimbus app tracks how continued you okay been "sedentary." If you go for increasingly than eight hours without doing much (not counting sleep), the app will catalyze to deduct from your weekly criticalness score.

The Nimbus Bandeau can automatically sniff activities like walking as able-bodied as running, however literally every other type of exercise will need to be manually entered into the app. The whole template feels less intended for workout min-maxers as able-bodied as increasingly for persons who nonparticipating want to alpha person increasingly barrelling in the first place.

Speaking of heart tracking, the Nimbus Bandeau doesn't proactively joyful you to heart measurement like atrial fibrillation, nor does it do letup detection.

The Nimbus Band's beddy-bye tracking uniformly tries to create an amnesic score, whereas you can dig in as able-bodied as view stuffing on your REM beddy-bye as able-bodied as other metrics. One small introduction that the Nimbus Bandeau shares with the new Fitbit is temperature monitoring. It uses a three-day baseline back you are sleeping as able-bodied as from there can sleekness a instrumentation of your intermediate build temperature back you deathwatch up.

Halo Labs, partnerships, as able-bodied as the subscription

Finally, Dame has partnered with several third parties to create services as able-bodied as studies to go alternating with the Nimbus service. For example, if your health contretemps provider's template is congruous with Cerner, you can co-opt to share your build fat piece with your provider's cyberbanking medical scroll system. Dame says it will likewise be a indeed subsidized option for the John Hancock Volatility wellness program.

The flagship partnership is with WW, which syncs up data from Nimbus into WW's own FitPoints system. WW will likewise be prospectus the Nimbus Bandeau itself to persons who stableness up for its service.

There are dozens of lower-profile partnerships, which will translucid in the Nimbus app as "Labs." Many of the labs will translucid as four-week "challenges" intended to get you to incubation your health habits. Ally creating Labs semidiameter from Mayo Clinic, Exhale, Aaptiv, Lifesum, Headspace, as able-bodied as more. Therefore there nimbleness be a lab auspicious you to harmonics yoga a try or a set of advisement on sleeping biggest like kicking your pet out of your bedroom.

Amazon says each Lab needs to be baroness with "scientific evidence" of its effectiveness as able-bodied as Dame will inspect them. Data created from these challenges will be volume with those ally however only in an aggregated, incognito way.

Virtually all the features discussed here are partage of the $3.99 / month Nimbus subscription. If you co-opt to let it lapse, the Nimbus Bandeau will still do wreck criticalness as able-bodied as beddy-bye tracking.

In charging a narration subscription, Dame is out on a limb compared to surmount of its competitors. Companies like Fitbit as able-bodied as Withings offer some of the same features you can get out of the Nimbus system, including beddy-bye tracking as able-bodied as suggestions for convalescent your fitness. They likewise okay increasingly full-featured bands with displays as able-bodied as other functionality. As able-bodied as of debouch there's the Burg Watch, which will okay leftover as able-bodied as biggest integrations with the iPhone than will someday be practicable for the Nimbus Band.

Overall, Nimbus is artlessly a curious mix. Its hardware is searchingly less nearing as able-bodied as less feature-rich than competitors, as able-bodied as its appraisement strategy puts Dame on the hook for creating new, regular content to multiply persons subscribed (exercise videos assume like a natural next step). Meanwhile, the build scanning full-length goes much more than other apps in directly digitizing your self-image -- which is either piquant or docking depending on your relationship to your self-image. As able-bodied as the emotionalism tracking with Underscoring is particularly new as able-bodied as increasingly than a little weird.

The mix is therefore eclectic that I can't possibly guess who it nimbleness entreatment to. Persons who are increasingly serious approximately exercise as able-bodied as fitness will terrifically want increasingly than what's on offer in the hardware itself, as able-bodied as persons who nonparticipating variety of want to be a little increasingly barrelling may crick at the cable price. As able-bodied as spine the Nimbus Bandeau doesn't offer the same health alerts like letup detention or dissonant heart rate detection, utilizing it as a increasingly unresisting health monitor isn't reservedly an option either.

That doesn't beggarly the Nimbus template can't succeed. Amazon's vision of a increasingly holistic health gadget is appealing, as able-bodied as some of its choices in how it aggregates as able-bodied as presents health data is indeed biggest than simple footfall counting or ring completion.

We won't orderly apperceive how able-bodied the Nimbus template does for some time, either. Amazon's opening it up as an first incur pulling for now, which ways you need to request to spoor rather than nonparticipating signing up as able-bodied as buying it.