Introduction to Invisible Health Tracking
Watch enthusiasts often avoid bulky fitness trackers because they prefer traditional timepieces. Founder Salah Batroukh aims to bridge this gap with a new wearable device called Hiyd.
The company ethos focuses on health tracking that does not require users to alter their personal style or appearance, building an ecosystem of invisible health-tracking products.
Microsuction Technology and Design
Hiyd's first device is a slim disc that attaches to the back of a watch using microsuction. This material technology allows the sensor to sit flush beneath the watch without requiring magnets or adhesive, avoiding sticky residue and protecting mechanical timepieces.
Microsuction uses a textured silicone sheet featuring hundreds of tiny molded pockets per square inch. Pressing the sheet expels air from the pockets to create a scaled-down vacuum. This design resists shear forces while allowing the device to pop off easily with light prying, measuring just 0.3 mm thick.
Image Credits:Hiyd
Biometric Sensors and AI Integration
The sensor measures 2.7 mm thick, weighs 7 grams, and collects standard biometrics including heart rate, heart rate variability, sleep staging, movement, calories burned, and VO2 max estimations. It syncs data to an iOS or Android application, utilizing custom video datasets and AI to fine-tune activity recognition.
By filming various activities and labeling the datasets, the team leverages AI data analysis to quickly integrate heuristic analytics into the device sets.
Nutrition and Lifestyle Insights
The accompanying app also incorporates nutrition tracking designed to highlight correlations between user eating habits, sleep quality, and workout performance rather than simply counting calories.
Insights can pinpoint specific patterns, such as how late-night workouts or evening sugar consumption negatively impacts deep sleep quality for individual users.
Image Credits:Hiyd
Founding Team and Launch Plans
Batroukh previously spent seven years as a manufacturing design engineer at Apple before deciding to build an independent product. He is joined by co-founders Omar Shakir, serving as CTO, and Mahamad Charawi, leading software development.
Leaving Apple provided Batroukh the opportunity to focus entirely on direct customer needs rather than corporate brand identity.
Charawi brings prior startup experience, having previously co-led the Y Combinator-backed startup Laudspeaker.
Hiyd is showcasing its sensor at Startup Battlefield, with a Kickstarter campaign scheduled for November following thousands of early deposits from interested users.
