The DEMO conference in California last week featured three mHealth startups, according to a report from PC World.
First off is Lumoback, a system that aims to correct poor posture using a wearable patch, which measures about two inches long and is powered by a lithium-ion battery. The user wears it on the lower back. The sensor transmits posture data via Bluetooth to a smartphone app on the user's phone. The patch vibrates when the wearer has incorrect posture either sitting or standing, and the app can provide real-time feedback on the user's posture via an on-screen model. That leads to corrective advice and a summary of the tracked data over time.
The company looking to work with health, fitness and sports-related companies and hopes for a commercial launch in the middle of next year.
The second startup that PC World highlighted, Poosh, uses SMS to send motivational workout reminders from "elite athletes" to users. Messages are divided into specific categories for men's and women's weight loss, men's and women's general health, marathon training and a category called In Your Face, for users who decide they need additional motivation. The free service is ad-supported. The company's chief content development officer is Jaime Komer, who won a silver medal in women's water polo at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Beijing.
In its demonstration, Poosh showed an "In Your Face" message that read, "Get off your lazy butt and do 5 push ups right now!! Add 1 additional push up each day until you reach your max!" Users can sign up to receive as many as three messages per day, and along with those, they will get one advertising message, which is targeted at health and fitness topics.
The third company highlighted in the article is MedKenya, a reference service similar to WebMD, that won top prize recently at the Pivot25 entrepreneurial contest held in Nairobi. The app provides symptom checkers, first-aid information, medical alerts, and searchable doctor and hospital directories in an attempt to make healthcare more accessible for Kenyans. The service is available via Android and Symbian apps, as well as SMS and the web.
Read the PC World article here
