The Kickstarter price is $219, with shipping in batches in February and July 2018 and the Wave will retail for $299 from November 2018.
Anecdotally, there is a lot of demand from women, whose comfort levels based on temperature fluctuate for all sorts of reasons, for this kind of instant "thermal relief".Īlthough the manufacturing process is never a sure thing, either, the fact this is already locked in place is an encouraging sign it will deliver in time for the first wave of mailouts. However, it would appear Embr Labs has carefully developed an innovative wearable concept, and one that's resonated not just with big industry players, but also Kickstarter backers. Since we haven't yet had chance to test out the technology behind the Embr Wave, aside from a brief demo of a very early prototype, it's hard to speak to just how effective it is at helping you gain more control with regard to temperature. For now, that relationship includes capital injection, but is something we suspect could broaden the technology in the immediate future. This long-term vision and potential is likely why the MIT-founded startup has attracted support from two significant players in the tech space, Intel Capital and Bose Ventures. But the overall plan runs deeper than just one device that heats and cools you when you need it most – Embr is exploring the application of its patented technology in a number of other areas, such as virtual reality, entertainment and non-verbal communication. So for Embr Labs, it's now a case of fulfilling the ascending mountain of Kickstarter orders. And according to Shames, an engineered sample run of the device has already taken place on an assembly line with a high yield. Since finishing the design of the Wave last autumn, the company has worked to shore up any potential hurdles in the manufacturing process.
So, why the delay to head to market? Well, understanding the potentially shaky ground startups developing their first device can tread on, Embr Labs opted to take a more pragmatic approach. And, of course, we learned very early on that it needs to be something people actually want on their wrist all the time," he continued. It wasn't until 2015 that we made something that, when people would wear it during field trials, the feedback was that they actually wore it all day. "Initially, we couldn't make something attractive enough that people would want to wear. The wrist is an area that people don't mind putting on a new thing, and it's also a very thermally sensitive area. "But obviously, as we've worked to get to market, it exploded and managed to sustain itself. "When we started the product, the Apple Watch wasn't out yet and the main wrist based products were Fitbit devices," said Shames. The result was a 50 x 13 x 32mm wristband that offers 16 temperature intensity levels, from 'very cold' to 'very warm', while also accommodating for around three days (or 25-50 relief 'sessions') on a single charge. With the wrist providing solid blood flow for a band to tap into, Embr Labs' next move also included taking everything it had learned and making it an attractive and discreet package that users wouldn't mind wearing. And even from there, shrinking this into a wearable form factor proved tricky. As Shames noted, the team's first challenge was understanding the subject area before then applying it to technology.
Embr wrist device skin#
So, with the Embr Wave, we can replicate that sensation with the pulses and leverage the body's and our skin receptor's natural responses to change," Shames explained.
"Think about if you're in a shower, it might feel hot at first but you soon get used to it and want to turn it up. The trio found that warming or cooling one spot on the body can improve overall comfort without necessarily changing the body's core temperature, while also trying to factor in our natural ability to respond to a sudden temperature change. Working from that premise, Embr Labs began to research the science around human body temperature and develop its device. "After our first prototype that summer, we realised that, while it can save energy, there's a much more immediate value – simply, feeling the right temperature feels good." So from there we just wanted to affect people's temperature directly. "We were saying to each other, 'This is ridiculous, it's using so much energy and this lab is empty most of the day'. We got the idea in a lab on a hot May day in Cambridge, and the place was so air-conditioned we had to put on sweatshirts," Shames told us. "Our initial idea was actually to help buildings save energy.