Disclosure: This is a partnered post with 3M Company, but all opinions are my own.
The first time I had allergy testing, my arm lit up like a Christmas tree. I had seasonal allergies for all four seasons. Trees, grasses, mold, mites, even cockroaches appeared on my allergy list. My kids didn’t stand a chance. Not only did they inherit allergies and asthma, we live in one of the 10 worst cities in the U.S. for allergy sufferers. Our entire lives have been an endless cycle of doctor appointments. There’s nothing scarier than rushing your child to the ER to find they have a pinpoint of air left to breathe. I’ve often wished there was something to help us identify triggers. This year my wish was granted when I was invited to attend CES 2017 with 3M Company to learn about their new wearable respiratory tracking solution intended to monitor and potentially help predict and improve the quality of breathing.
If you’ve never heard of CES, it’s a yearly Consumer Electronics Show held in Las Vegas that brings in the latest technology from all over the world. Before our day began we attended a breakfast panel discussion with Wired Magazine where they discussed some of the trends and latest in technology that would be previewed at CES. There is so much new technology developing every year and the Wired Breakfast provided information on the trends we need to watch for in the future. Let’s just say internet security and how to keep personal data private is at the top of everyone’s mind! Afterwards, we met with the 3M team involved with the development and design of the new wearable technology to discuss the prototype, a small, comfortable device worn on the torso or chest, which will be available this summer.
The device isn’t intended to replace medical advice, but is used to help identify environmental triggers and daily activities causing flare ups. By detecting changes in breathing patterns in real time and entering data onto the app as it happens, we’ll be able to determine what underlying factors might have been present. Of course, having the data available over a period of months would be helpful to show our doctor. It’s always hard to think of what might have caused triggers when we’re sitting in the doctor’s office. Pollen? Air quality? Exposure to a goat? Seriously. They’re allergic to goats. How many people can claim this?
The wearable device is connected to an app, and the app runs quietly in the background at all times, taking a minimum of battery life unless the device is opened and actively being used. The app will be able to:
- Measure breath quality and changes in real time
- Give up to the minute location based forecasts along with weather changes, air quality and allergens present
- Send notification alerts when triggers are present
- Allow users to design custom forecast alerts based on their triggers
- Respond to your own unique triggers and sensitivities
- Provide users with details on where and when breathing events occurred and what triggers were present
I’m impressed with the device because it could easily be worn by one of the kids, while having the data delivered to an app on my phone. This could help me identify triggers in their environment. Does their breathing change every day at a certain time? What is happening in their environment at that time I need to know about?
Because the wearable respiratory monitor prototype and app are still in development, new features and changes are being added. Our focus group suggested ideas like bright, fun colors for the device, and possibly ways to add a fitness tracker. What suggestions would you like to see to make this a device that would be helpful for you?
I could really use this. I have COPD, so this would really help me monitor my breathing. I don’t usually have a hard time, but it would be nice to be able to avoid situations that might trigger an asthma attack.
My son deals with terrible allergies and it’s tough to have him outside often without issue. This would truly change our lives and I’m so glad they focused their efforts on this!
There is literally an app for everything now! This is certain to be a wonderful app for those with allergy issues.
This is really cool. Something like this would really help my brothers who both suffer badly from allergies and could use something like this!
This sounds promising. I suffer from allergies all year long so I know the struggle. I need to check out this show, I always hear it advertised on the radio.
I need this app!! I am allergic to all pollen and this would be so helpful!!
It looks like you guys had a good time. This sounds like a great idea to visit the CES! My husband especially loves to see the upcoming technology.
This is really unbelievable! I know someone who really need this and it would be useful for her.
This is my first time to heard this app and it’s really pretty amazing!
Technology is kind of unbelievable – both of my kids suffer from allergies and this would be such a wonderful app to help us deal with them as a family. Thanks for the intel!
This is awesome and very helpful. Sharing this to my friends and family.
This is such a useful app for allergy sufferers. I think it’s so neat how technology can help with health conditions like this. I will share this post with a few friends.
This sounds like an amazing device and app. I have suffered with allergies my whole live and my children have too. It would be really nice to have a device to tell us the triggers to watch for that we are not aware of for sure. Thanks for sharing the awesome information.
How awesome is this! My husband and daughter both have bad allergies during spring, this would be good for them.
Wow.. I am super excited for this app! Definitely will download and use it everyday!
This would be perfect for my Dad. He has suffered with allergies for as long as I can remember. I will have to share this with him.
I have seen people with allergies that have it so bad. A girl in my class was on one side of a room and on the other side someone was eating peanuts and the girl on the other side started hyperventilating because she smelled it and was allergic. Allergies are scary.
What a handy app! I love the idea that it offers trackable data so you can share with the doctor. Such a great way to pinpoint issues that lead to breathing difficulty!
I would love to try this! I suffer from asthma and for the life of me I cannot work out what triggers it. Sometimes I go months without an attack and then sometimes I am really sick for weeks on end. I would love to know what is causing it.
This sounds perfect for me, I have terrible allergies. As I’ve gotten older, I now have Allergy Induced Asthma, so it would be SO helpful for me to be warned of triggers early enough to prevent the onset of asthma!
This is such a great concept! My daughter has all kinds of environmental allergies, but because the rest of us in the family do not, it is tough to tell when she is bothered by allergies versus sick with a cold, etc. This would definitely be a really helpful tool
This sounds like it would be a really helpful device. It’s awesome that they are open to adding new features!
I have never heard of this. This would have been such a help when my two had asthma.
I haven’t heard of this app. Technology is coming up with so many great things so fast it is difficult to keep up with. Sounds really great. Will have to read more about this cool app.
This is one of the times I love living in the age of technology. I suffer from fall and spring allergies. Thankfully they are mild, but still annoying!
That is a very interesting app! I have a lot of relatives that have a lot of allergy problems in this app would definitely help.
That sounds incredible. Everyone in my home suffers from allergies, and allergy related annoyances. I would love to give this a try. It’s allergen central here in Georgia.
I MUST have this in my life! We all suffer from allergies and allergy related respiratory problems, so this wold be perfect for us.
What a wonderful invention for allergy sufferers. I can only imagine how frightening it is to have to rush your child to the hospital because they are having problems breathing. Being able to identify triggers before they become a problem is awesome.
That sounds like a handy app to have. I only suffer from allergies for about 3 or 4 weeks a year in the spring, so I will use this then 🙂