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This is the final hardware for Scanadu Scout: a real, functioning tricorder
It's been a long time coming, but a real, functioning tricorder is almost here, and we got to see the final hardware for it today at CES. Scanadu Scout is its name, and in case you aren't familiar, we've been tracking the little hand-held human health tracker since its inception in late 2012. Since that first glimpse of a prototype, the device has gotten a new design, been funded to the tune of more than $1 million on Indiegogo and the two devices you see above are the versions that'll be shipping out to backers at the end of March. The devices themselves are tightly crafted, with uniform seams around the chrome bits, and while they feel solid, they are still quite lightweight. Getting to this point hasn't been easy, however, as Walter de Brouwer, Scanadu's founder and CEO, tells us that the toroidal design he and his team dreamed up has proven exceedingly difficult to manufacture. Despite that fact, the tooling up has begun, and rest assured; the devices that make their way to the public will look like the ones we saw. And, should you like to live vicariously through us, you can see more of Scout in our gallery below, along with a few screenshots of the still-in-development companion app, too.
Live from the Engadget CES Stage: Scanadu CEO Walter de Brouwer
Health care devices are, once again, all the rage at this year's CES, and Scanadu's got one of the more ambitious offerings. The company's Scout device aims to be a $150 Star Trek-esque tricorder that'll give users readings for heart and breathing rate, temperature, blood pressure and blood oxygenation levels. We've got the company's founder and CEO Walter de Brouwer to discussion his vision for the future of health care. January 7, 2014 6:00:00 PM EST Follow all the latest CES 2014 news at our event hub, and check out our full stage schedule here.
Scanadu Scout tricorder tops $1 million in funding, now comes in black
Scanadu clearly knows to tap into our collective Star Trek dreams, as the company just reached $1 million in funding for its Scout tricorder. The backing so far comes from people in 91 countries, including luminaries like Eugene Roddenberry (who else?) and Steve Wozniak. That figure is more than symbolic, we'd add -- backers who've paid for a Scout can now get theirs in black rather than a clinical-looking white. Should the new color option prove tempting, it's not necessarily too late; as of this writing, there's still a few days left to make a pledge.
Scanadu finalizes Scout tricorder design, wants user feedback to help it get FDA approval
We first saw a prototype of Scout, the tricorder and companion app built by Scanadu for the Tricorder X-prize competition late last year. Today, the company is unveiling Scout's final version and launching an Indiegogo campaign to let folks order Scout and sign up to participate in a usability study -- which will provide Scanadu the user feedback needed to help its tricorder get certified by the FDA. In the six months since Scout was first revealed, the design has changed somewhat, and we checked in with company CEO Walter De Brouwer to get the lowdown on the new version. Like the prototype, the new model tracks your temperature, respiratory rate, systolic blood pressure and stress level. Scout now pulls your vitals in ten seconds using just optical sensors, which enables it to read the vital signs of others -- as opposed to the prototype which utilized an EEG sensor and could only record the info of the person holding it. Plus, thanks to some newly developed algorithms, it can now take both systolic and diastolic blood pressure readings with 95 percent accuracy. Running the algorithms to translate the optical sensor info takes a good bit of computing power, however. So, Scout got upgraded from an 8-bit processor to a 32-bit unit based on Micrium, the operation system being used by NASA's Curiosity Rover for sample analysis on Mars. If you're into supporting real world space technology being used to make science fiction a reality, the crowdfunding project of your dreams has arrived.
Scanadu's Walter De Brouwer talks tricorders and time travel backstage at Expand (video)
Walter De Brouwer wants to make the tricorder a reality. The Scanadu founder and CEO took some time away from his Trekkie toiling at NASA's Ames Research Park to join our panel on the future of technology and made his way backstage shortly after to discuss his vision of things to come with Sharif Sakr. For the full interview, covering everything from implantable health sensors to semiotics and the possibility (or not) of time travel, check out our video after the break. Follow all of Engadget's Expand coverage live from San Francisco right here!
Scanadu's Scout tricorder and companion app detect what ails you, arrive in 2013 for $150
The quest to create a tricorder began many years ago, when such a device was but a figment of Gene Roddenberry's vivid imagination. However, his vision has crept ever closer to reality in recent years, with many researchers crafting devices capable of gathering human health data and the creation of an X Prize competition to spur further tricorder development. Scanadu is a company that's answered the X Prize bell and is aiming to bring just such a device to market by late next year for a mere $150. Called Scout, the tricorder is roughly two inches square and a half an inch thick and packs a rechargeable battery, IR , EEG and EKG scanners, plus an accelerometer, Bluetooth radio and a micro-USB port. That hardware, when combined with Scout's companion smartphone app can track a person's heart rate, breathing rate, body temperature, pulse transit (essentially systolic blood pressure) and blood oxygenation. To gather that data, users first must download the free Scout app and pair the tricorder hardware with their Android, iOS or BB7 handset via Bluetooth. Then it's simply a matter of pinching the device between their thumb and finger and holding it against their temple for ten seconds while the app takes the necessary readings. From there, the app can track your data over the long haul and provide an accurate picture of your health. We had a chance to see functional and production Scout prototypes and to speak with Scanadu CEO Walter De Brouwer and Chief Medical Officer Dr. Alan Greene about Scout's development, so join us after the break for more.
