Kinsa, the maker of a smart thermometer that tracks the spread of illness, has today announced their second product in the form of the Kinsa in-ear thermometer.
Unlike the first thermometer, which was a standard (though smart) stick thermometer, the new in-ear thermometer is completely wireless, and connects to the smartphone app via Bluetooth.
The Kinsa portfolio of thermometers work like this:
Users can track the temperature of sick children (or adults) and have a living history of illness, making it easier to relay information to doctors and other health professionals. And with the introduction of the Smart Ear Thermometer, Kinsa is releasing a new software feature that will not only track health issues, but help users take action.
The new feature, called Guidance, takes into account the patient’s history, temperature, symptoms and more to provide actionable guidance.
“When your child is sick, you don’t really care about the difference between a 102 degree fever and a 102.5 degree temperature,” said cofounder Inder Singh. “All you care about is how to make them feel better, and Guidance is a huge step toward providing that assurance.”
Guidance will be available within the Kinsa app for users of both the Smart Ear and Smart Stick Thermometers.
The new Smart Ear Thermometer reads temperature within a single second, making the entire process quick and painless.
When asked if there was any concern about the Smart Ear Thermometer cannibalizing sales of the original Kinsa, Singh explained that the two products actually appeal to very different demographics, with parents of very young children opting for the in-ear option.
Beyond tracking a user’s own health, Kinsa also takes the extra step of crowd-sourcing that data from the local area to see how illnesses are spreading across neighborhoods or schools. This means that parents using the Kinsa can see if their child, who came home ill, contracted a common cold or strep throat.
The Kinsa Smart Ear Thermometer goes live on Indiegogo today for a half-off price of $29.99 for the first 24 hours, at which point it will be bumped up to its normal retail price of $60.
You can check out the Kinsa Smart Ear Thermometer on Indiegogo right here.