The weight of announcements, the shock of functions. At the Consumer Electronic Show (CES) 2022, Withings is presenting Body Scan, a high-end connected scale that will be launched at the end of the year for nearly 300 euros. With it, the French manufacturer hopes to fully play the card of prevention vis-à-vis its users, but also to democratize telemedicine. 20 minutes met its managing director, Matthieu Letombe.
Withings has just presented a new connected scale at CES in Las Vegas. What more will the Body Scan bring?
With Body Scan, we are talking about “connected health station”. Of course, the weight remains a number one indicator of all the risks that we can develop but now, the measurement precision of this new scale is 50 grams, against 100 grams before. Above all, the analysis of body composition that we performed with previous models such as the Body scale was calculated only on the lower body. To refine these measurements, Body Scan incorporates a retractable handle that you just need to pull when weighing yourself. It incorporates four electrodes that will allow the current to flow throughout the body and not just the bottom. This is called segmentation.
What is the objective ?
Fat, muscle, bone and water masses are now calculated across the right and left legs, but also both arms, and the torso. We will therefore have much stronger measurements on these parts of the body. And to go further, the handle of the Body Scan scale allows you to perform six-lead electrocardiograms (ECG), unlike the ECGs of connected watches which, for their part, are based on only one signal, i.e. a lead. For their part, cardiologists perform twelve-lead ECGs during their examinations.
So, we imagine that the Body Scan will be more dedicated to people at risk?
Not only. A thirty-something who wants to take care of himself begins to take an interest in this kind of product. It can also be an athlete who wants to go through the weighing experience to the end.
And then, yes, overweight people can be made aware of this type of device. In the United States, 56% of 18-25 year olds are overweight. We know that this is the start of everything: diabetes, sleep apnea …
How will the user handle this influx of data?
Body Scan is a high-end product (it will be sold for 299 euros at the end of 2022). It is aimed at people who want to take care of themselves, and who need to be accompanied. What we want is not to leave them alone with the information collected.
They will therefore be available on the Body Scan screen, as well as in our application which will be completely redesigned and which will be able to alert the user according to the risks detected by the scale. Moreover, a patient-doctor interface will allow practitioners to receive a secure link to access their patient’s data. It is not yet known whether this access will be occasional or permanent.
Is this data sharing with doctors a way forward?
Why not imagine that during a check-up, your doctor has the results of six months of weighing, with a very precise measurement history? We hope to become the number one provider of home health data. We have seen through our previous scales, our watches and connected blood pressure monitors that our products make sense.
For their part, health professionals, particularly aware of the Covid, are more and more open to measurements taken directly on the patient’s premises. Telemedicine surged with the pandemic and will not turn back the clock! Our hope is that in two years, telemedicine will really become commonplace. We work daily with cardiologists and neurologists, who say they are ready. We are also partners of associations of young doctors, which are much more open to new technologies …