My posture has been one of my biggest insecurities since middle school when my friend Kourtney grabbed me by the shoulders, pulling them back saying “Jamie you are going to be a hunchback!” She still playfully does this almost every time I see her. Nevertheless, I am grateful to her for trying to help me out (or for giving me a posture complex). Research from Amy Cuddy, Harvard Business School professor has shown that posture and body language can change how people feel about themselves and can change the perceptions of others. As I write this article, my Lumo Lift is occasionally vibrating, indicating that I need to sit up straight, wearable Kourtney on my shoulder when I need her to be.
Lumo Lift is a $100 wearable made by Lumo Body Tech that attaches to your clothes or bra strap and tracks your posture and activity. The device attaches to your clothes via a magnetic clasp, which comes in many different colors, and can even be customized with crystal jewelry. I reviewed the product for about two weeks and the magnet was strong enough that it never fell off during that time period. The device is small, 1.75 inches long, 0.5 inches thick and 1 inch wide, so it is easy to forget you are even wearing it. It charges via mini USB and lasts for about five days on a single charge. Lumo Lift has 32 MB of memory, which holds up to four weeks of activity. The activity will be transferred via Bluetooth to your iOS or Windows device when Lumo Lift is in range. It is made of electroplated thermoset plastic, which is durable enough to withstand getting chewed on by a dachshund. My sister’s dog got to it over Christmas break and while there are a few bite marks, it still works perfectly.
The app currently works with iPhones or iPads via the iOs app or your laptop via the Lumo Lift Window App. Once Lumo Lift is paired via Bluetooth with your computer or iOs device, you can clip Lumo Lift on your shirt and align it. To alight the device you need to sit up straight in perfect posture and press the device twice so that it has a baseline to determine when you are no longer in the ideal position. You will have to play around with a few positions to get the correct alignment and occasionally change the alignment if you move to another location. At this point the device will not vibrate when your posture is incorrect, it will just collect information on whether you are sitting or standing up straight or in bad posture. This is good because if you are in an important meeting or giving a presentation, you most likely do not want a wearable vibrating on your chest. To turn on the corrective vibrations you need to turn on the Lumo Lift Coach from your paired iOs or Windows device or press on your Lumo Lift for four seconds. The coaching session can last from five minutes to four hours and can be ended by pressing on the device for three minutes. Lumo Body Tech also created Posture alert, which is currently in BETA testing. Posture Alert allows you to pick a range of time for a coaching session for example from 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM. It also allows you to determine at what point Lumo Lift will alert you of your bad posture, at one minute of bad posture up to 30 minutes of bad posture.
The device is also a pedometer and tracks your distance traveled, calories burned and steps taken. It uses your weight to incorporate resting calories burned and adds that value to calories burned from walking or running. Lumo Lift is partnered with calorie counting app, MyFitnessPal and calories burned while wearing Lumo Lift can be transferred to the MyFitnessPal app. The Lumo Lift app aggregates your data and allows you to create goals for hours of good posture and steps taken throughout the day. The app also allows you to view trends for good posture and steps taken over a period of hours or days. Below are some screen shots from my review with Lumo Lift.
