The wrist has quickly established itself as a favourite location for wearables. Smartwatches are unlikely to be found anywhere else. The same is true for many activity and fitness trackers. The wrist not only offers a convenient way to track a number of biometric data points (like your heart rate) but many consumers are already used to wearing jewelry and watches there. The Arc neck wearable concept looks to do the same for the neck.
Designed by Robert de Saint Phalle, the Arc is an elegant device that rests at the top of your shoulders and drapes around the neck much as a short necklace would. It sports a number of sensors that track both biometric and environmental data. These include heart rate, body temperature, UV exposure, air quality and oxygen saturation.
The Arc by Aegle (a company that evolved from a John Hopkins team competing in Qualcomm’s Tricorder X-Prize competition?) can be used both as a consumer activity and fitness tracker or in a medical setting. It presumably connects via Bluetooth to a companion app that can provide detailed information and reports using the information collected.
We’ve seen similar designs for Bluetooth headsets such as the LG Tone Infinim Around-the-Neck wireless headset and Motorola Buds Wireless Headphones. In fact, the Arc also comes with built-in Bluetooth headphones like those other devices.
It remains to be seen if we’ll see the Arc neck wearable move from the concept stage to the prototype one before making its way to consumers.
Source : Behance