Latest news with #FitbitLabs
Forbes
14-05-2025
- Health
- Forbes
Fitbit Owners Get Three Interesting New Features
Fitbit Charge 6 Reports of the imminent death of Fitbit may be misplaced, as Fitbit owners just got three new interesting features. The trio of features are part of Fitbit's Labs project, and they use Google Gemini AI to enhance the heath-related experience for Fitbit owners. Fitbit announced the upgrades on the Fitbit Community blog. And while one requires joining a waitlist, it sounds like these experimental extras could be worth checking out. They are dubbed the Medical Record Navigator, Symptom Checker and Unusual Trends. Let's dig in. Symptom Checker is the AI-enhanced version of what a doctor will often advise you not to do — searching the web for symptoms. Fitbit says it will ask a few follow-up questions after you start off describing your symptoms, to try to home in on some possible causes. This should, with any luck, avoid the web search effect where folks manage to convince themselves their slightest ailment may be down to a terminal condition. The goal is to help you work out if it's something that actually requires more research, or the help of a medical professional. Next up is Unusual Trends, which could potentially significantly increase the real-world smarts and usefulness of today's ordinary fitness trackers. Fitbit says this is used to recognize changes in stats you probably wouldn't ordinarily notice, even if you see them in a graph on the Fitbit app. That might be a change in your breathing rate, for example. Unusual Trends will inform you of the fact, while apparently not going as far as to suggest what might be the cause. I've often noticed correlations in my heart rate behaviour and HRV during and around bouts of illness, so this feature could act as a form of proof of reinforcement if you are feeling a little 'off' at any point. It's also an example of one of the more difficult areas of consumer wearable tech — not so much harvesting accurate stat data, but finding a way to make it useful for the average person. The final new Fitbit Labs feature is the one with a waitlist attached. And while it could prove super-useful, it arguably also has the least mainstream appeal. Medical Record Navigator lets you upload results and reports you've received from medical professionals, and it will analyze the data to provide digestible summaries of what they mean. Fitbit suggests you'll use this one to 'quickly understand complex medical terms and get a better understanding of your results.' To get access to these features, you need to opt in to Fitbit Labs under the You tab of the app and enable each Labs feature. Fitbit Labs is available to U.S. users, and Fitbit says some will require a Premium subscription.
Android Authority
13-05-2025
- Health
- Android Authority
Fitbit's AI experiments just leveled up with 3 new health tracking features
Kaitlyn Cimino / Android Authority TL;DR Fitbit Labs is launching three new experimental features for select users. Google Gemini powers these features and allows users to simplify lab reports, decode their symptoms, and get alerts for any unusual changes to their health metrics. Last year, Fitbit launched Fitbit Labs, an initiative that gave select users early access to experimental health tools powered by Google's Gemini AI. Now, the company is adding three more experimental features to the program. The first is called 'Medical Record Navigator.' This Gemini-powered tool is designed to simplify lab reports and turn them into easy-to-understand health summaries. Users who have opted into Fitbit Labs will be able to securely upload their latest lab results to the Fitbit app, where Gemini will break down the information into plain language and offer educational context to help users understand what it all means. Two more features are coming to Fitbit Labs in the coming weeks. One is 'Symptom Checker,' which, as the name suggests, helps users figure out why they might be feeling off. You can describe symptoms like 'my head hurts' or 'I feel tired,' and the tool will ask follow-up questions to help narrow down possible explanations. The other upcoming feature is called 'Unusual Trends.' This tool looks for subtle changes in your health data, things you might not notice on your own, like shifts in your sleep breathing rate, heart rate variability, or resting heart rate. It learns what's normal for your body and alerts you when something seems off. Google emphasizes that these experimental tools are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, mitigate, or prevent any disease or condition. They're also not a replacement for professional medical advice. Instead, they're meant to support ongoing research as Fitbit explores future health features.
Phone Arena
13-05-2025
- Health
- Phone Arena
Fitbit Labs opens three new AI experiments that Apple Watch fans might envy
Fitbit has opened the doors to three fresh experiments in Fitbit Labs, aiming to turn your fitness tracker into a smarter health companion. Starting today, eligible Android and iPhone users in the U.S. will see a Labs card in the Fitbit app. From there you can hop on the waitlist for Medical record navigator, while two more tools, Symptom checker and Unusual trends, are on the way in the next few three use Google's Gemini model to take raw numbers and turn them into plain language advice. These are the experiments available: Medical record navigator lets you upload recent blood work or other lab files. Gemini scans the document and returns a clear summary, explains medical terms in everyday words, and points you to learning resources. lets you upload recent blood work or other lab files. Gemini scans the document and returns a clear summary, explains medical terms in everyday words, and points you to learning resources. Symptom checker is a chat style assistant for days when you feel off. Describe what hurts, answer a few follow-up questions, and it suggests possible reasons so you can decide if more research or a doctor's visit is needed. is a chat style assistant for days when you feel off. Describe what hurts, answer a few follow-up questions, and it suggests possible reasons so you can decide if more research or a doctor's visit is needed. Unusual trends keeps an eye on metrics like resting heart rate, heart-rate variability, and overnight breathing rate. Once it learns what is normal for you, it pings you when something drifts out of range. Once an experiment is available to you, it will show up for you under the Fitbit Labs main page. | Images credit — PhoneArena Fitbit says these tools are investigational only and not to be used to substitute medical advice. Furthermore, they are not approved to diagnose or treat any condition, and you can leave a study at any time, which deletes the data you shared. It looks like competition in the health arena is heating up. Reports say Apple is testing its own AI health agent for the Health app, Samsung is folding Galaxy AI analytics into Samsung Health and its upcoming Galaxy Ring, and wearables like Whoop already flag early signs of illness by watching heart-rate variability dips. Everyone wants to turn passive data into proactive coaching before you even notice something is wrong. Fitbit Labs launched just seven months ago, and the first project, Insight Explorer, showed people are eager to ask an AI why yesterday's long run wrecked their sleep score. This new trio feels like the next logical step: start with confusing lab paperwork, help you decode vague symptoms, then alert you when hidden changes in your body pop up. Even though it does not count as a medical diagnosis, having this information at your fingertips can be very valuable to warn you that something may be wrong and needs further examination. I am always in favor of tech that can make our lives better, especially when it has the potential to literally save your life.
Yahoo
18-03-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Fitbit's newest feature could help you sleep better and longer
The CDC reports that roughly one in three people struggle to get the proper amount of rest, but Fitbit's latest feature could provide a solution. The Personalized Sleep Schedule is part of Fitbit Labs, and it will 'survey your energy levels multiple times daily to analyze your responses and provide an evening sleep schedule.' In other words, the feature will determine your overall sleep debt and what you need to recover, and will then suggest a wake-up and bedtime centered on that data. Fitbit says the calculation comes from 'your last night of sleep data and your survey responses throughout the day,' so you will need to take the time to complete the surveys to maximize its effectiveness. Compared to other smartwatch features, the Personalized Sleep Schedule feels somewhat high maintenance. The morning check-in is a two-minute survey, and you have to answer it before 10 AM in your timezone. The daytime surveys are short responses about your current energy levels. And the evening/bedtime check-in is another two-minute survey. In total, that's roughly five minutes a day, but it equals quite a few interruptions if you're trying to stick to your answers. The timing requirements are also inconvenient; if you don't answer the evening survey by 11 PM each night, you won't receive a Personalized Sleep Schedule. Fitbit also warns the feature uses generative AI. While generally accurate, the answers might not always be correct. That said, the feature should grow more accurate over time as it 'learns' your habits and behaviors. Despite the absolute need for sleep, medical science still lacks a firm understanding of the biomechanics behind it. As such, most sleep trackers are left wanting. Each tracker is slightly different in how it determines results, but Fitbit is taking a step in the right direction by looking at things throughout the day instead of just the quality of the previous nights' sleep. If you're interested, you can sign up for Fitbit Labs through the Fitbit on Android app. For now, this feature is limited only to users in the United States, and anyone participating in the Personalized Sleep Schedule Lab must be over 18 years old.
