Studies have shown most smartwatches aren’t accurate for people with darker skin tones. That’s because the green light technology used to detect heart rate is flawed. Here’s why: the darker your skin tone, the more green light is blocked, the less accurate your results.

To erase the bias in smartwatches, we harnessed the power of sound.

EQL BAND is the first sound smart smartwatch band that hears all heartbeats equally, regardless of skin tone. This innovation answers a huge unmet need in technology that leaves out people of color, and aims to equalize health data for all.

There is increasing evidence about how green light technology is not accurate for people with darker skin tones, yet this is often underreported. While some health tech companies have added features to help erase the bias, it’s been more of a band-aid versus a solution. The result: people of color are being left behind in science and health.

In exploring new innovations to erase the bias in smartwatches, we uncovered electret microphone technology can accurately measure heart rate. By using the power of sound, we are able to measure heart rate, regardless of skin tone.

But, we needed to overcome multiple limitations:

• How do we isolate and amplify radial artery frequency of 1-2 Hz—

a sound undetectable to the human ear?

• How do we protect ambient noise from interfering in heart rate detection?

• Where do we house our listening technology, while ensuring a seamless user experience?

How do we erase the green light bias in smartwatches and create a wearable that delivers equal heart data to all?

By harnessing the power of sound.

EQL BAND is the world’s first smartwatch band using sound smart technology to accurately hear all heartbeats equally, regardless of skin tone.

We redesigned the smartwatch band you wear every day, placed a listening device inside, and added soundproofing. While most smartwatches use green light technology that is not accurate for everyone, we used sound to measure heart rate for people of all skin tones. EQL BAND technology pairs with any smartwatch.

The EQL BAND prototype innovation aims to silence the bias in smartwatches and is an invitation to everyone—big health tech companies, engineers, organizations, and every smartwatch user—to band together to create equal health data for all.

Over the course of 6 months, our innovation team set out to engineer a device that would deliver unbiased heart rate data regardless of skin tone.

November 2022: Discovered alarming research proving that many smartwatches use biased green light technology to measure heart rate. Began idea creation and fact finding.

December 2022: Explored and researched various modes of tech: smart rings, gel-based stickers, smart speakers, ear buds, cardio-chest straps, etc.

January 2023: Explored diverse range of infrared light colors to see which colors, in combination or alone, yielded the greatest accuracy per skin tone. The challenge we faced was inconsistent readings.

Investigated EKG technology, which required electrical leads on opposite parts of the body. The innovation led us to create a companion band to your smartwatch. The challenge was needing to get a reading from tethered leads from both sides of the body.

February 2023: Investigated electret microphone technology to listen to low frequency sounds emitted by the radial artery in your wrist.

March 2023: For research and development, we reached out to Daniel Acosta-Avalos, PhD in Physics, one of the authors of “Detecting the heart and wrist sounds with electret microphones.”

Also talked to ADInstruments, the makers of the Cardio Microphone Sensor, which provided the limitations of current cardio microphones.

To overcome barrier of needing an additional band vs the one you wear, we

hacked the smartwatch band you wear every day to house our listening technology.

April 2023: Leveraged cardio stethoscope technology to isolate and amplify the heart’s low frequency sound waves

Achieved functional prototype of EQL BAND.

Launched EQLBand.com, serving as an invitation to everyone––to band together to bring equal health tech to all.

Coming months: Further refine innovation and accuracy by partnering with Daniel Acosta-Avalos, PhD in Physics, while engaging his community of experts.

Begin process of clinical trials and FDA approval process.

Make EQL BAND affordable and accessible in US, then global.

To overcome the bias in wearable green light technology, we harnessed the power of sound. We created a device that could listen to the sound of every heartbeat, regardless of skin tone.

EQL BAND works by listening to the heart with an electret microphone, while its cardio stethoscope isolates and amplifies heart sound waves undetectable to the human ear.

EQL BAND sound smart technology:

Electret microphone

Listens to the heartbeat—undetectable to human ear

Cardio Stethoscope

Isolates and amplifies the heart’s low frequency sound waves

• Diaphragm: Ensures close contact between microphone and skin

• Bell: Cone-shape shield mimics stethoscope listening device

Soundproof foam

Absorbs noise and blocks ambient sound

Microcontroller

Processes and calculates data from microphone

Bluetooth

Sends heart rate to smartwatch in real time

Once a heart rate is detected, data is sent straight to your smartwatch. EQL BAND sound smart technology is placed right inside the band to create a seamless user experience, and pairs with any smartwatch.

To date, we have a functional EQL BAND prototype in R&D phase. Next, we aim to begin the clinical trials process followed by FDA-approval process. We are seeking further investment and innovation to help bring EQL BAND to life.

Our long-term EQL BAND mission is to provide smartwatch technology that delivers equal health data for everyone, regardless of skin tone.

Currently, we have a functional EQL BAND prototype in R&D phase. With further investment, innovation, clinical trials, and partnerships, we hope to realize EQL BAND in the real world. We designed EQL BAND to seamlessly pair with every smartwatch band, but also encourage health tech companies to further refine and integrate into their current smartwatches.

To gain more support and awareness, we are seeking to launch EQL BAND at future tech conferences such as the 2023 AfroTech Conference and SXSW.

To further refine EQL BAND innovation and accuracy, we are set to partner with Daniel Acosta-Avalos, PhD in Physics, while engaging his community of experts.

We aim to gain FDA approval and make EQL BAND affordable and accessible to the US market, before extending our reach into global markets.

∼70 million Americans use smartwatches to track their health, including heart rate

50% of all clinical trials by 2025 will use smartwatches for data monitoring

Data collected from these trials are often used to fuel new science and innovations.

Plus, heart rate data is used to assess heart risk, support diagnosis, and manage heart conditions.

BUT what if our smartwatches fail to provide accurate readings for people of color?

Are we missing serious heart health risks?

Are we leaving people of color out of major clinical trials?

Out of the health data algorithm?

The same algorithm used to spark future life-saving innovations?

The Black Lives Matter movement is calling for all of us to dismantle the systemic bias in our society. And that includes the bias in healthcare technology that continues to leave behind people of color. Now more than ever, equal health data matters.