- Fitbit Labs is testing a new hypertension feature as well as a new tool that tracks changes in your health metrics
- The company is looking for 10,000 participants to wear their Google Pixel Watch 3 as they normally would for 180 days, and they’ll be sent an ambulatory blood pressure monitor cuff
- Its ‘unusual trend’ detection will also send you heads-up alerts if your health readings look different from normal
Now that Fitbit’s AI-powered personal coach app is rolling out widely to users, the company has started working on testing more features for Pixel Watch users, including a Hypertension Study Lab and an ‘Unusual Trend Detection’ tool.
The two new features are currently being tested through Fitbit Labs, a program where users can sign up to explore Fitbit’s latest experiments and provide feedback as the features are developed. You should also note that this hypertension experiment is only available to users in the US at the moment.
According to 9to5Google, Fitbit wants to ‘use Pixel Watch data to identify early signs of’ high blood pressure – but strangely, the Fitbit Hypertension Lab is only being tested on the Pixel Watch 3, leaving the newer Pixel Watch 4 out of the mix. We don’t know the reason for this, but we’ll give you an update when we do.
To test its new hypertension alert feature, Fitbit is looking for ‘up to 10,000 eligible participants to wear their Google Pixel Watch 3 as they normally would for 180 days’ in the US. These testers are sent an ambulatory blood pressure monitoring cuff to wear for 24 hours, as well as compensation in the form of a $25 gift card.
Hypertension features are far from a new invention when it comes to the best smartwatches. In September, Apple introduced its own hypertension alert tool with the newest members of its Apple Watch series, the Apple Watch Series 11 and Apple Watch Ultra 3. Although not available on Apple Watch SE models, you can receive hypertension alerts on Apple Watch Series 9 and later, and iPhone 11 or later with the latest iOS version.
In addition, Fitbit Labs also runs an experiment to test for unusual health changes, which is essentially a heads-up warning you’ll receive if your health metrics look different than normal. Not only will you be able to log causes and symptoms, you’ll also receive recovery and rest tips as well as updates when your health metric patterns return to normal.
You can see all the experiments you’re eligible for by going to the Fitbit Labs page on Android, where you’ll find two sections: one for the Labs you’re eligible for and one for the Labs you’re interested in. From there, all you have to do is tap ‘Get Notified’ and you’ll be added to the waiting list.
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