You’ve probably heard of SAD, seasonal affective disorder, which is a type of depression that affects some people because of their reduced exposure to light in the darker months of the year (fall and winter in the Northern hemisphere). It can affect some people at other times of the year if they don’t tend to get enough exposure to bright enough light daily. People need exposure to the sun each day to keep their body’s circadian rhythms in sync to promote good mental and physical health and good sleep patterns. I’ve never been a sun worshipper, and I’ve always had jobs that tend to keep me indoors. I also have sleep problems, so I could probably improve my sleep patterns, and my overall health, if I just got some more sunlight.
SunSprite was developed by two doctors and its use and benefits are based on 30 years of clinically proven data. The SunSprite is a little, wearable sun exposure monitor that helps you make sure you get enough exposure to light. You clip it on your clothing, and its sensors will measure the intensity of the light (even through a window) to be sure it’s bright enough to benefit you and measures your UV exposure to determine when you’ve had enough for health benefits. It has lights that light up to indicate each 10% of needed exposure at the proper intensity. The monitor has a solar-charged battery that charges itself while monitoring your exposure. It syncs with iOS devices and BLE-enabled Android devices to coach you and help you see trends, set goals, and earn badges.
The SunSprite Wearable Sun and Light Tracker is $99.99.
Gadgeteer Comment Policy - Please read before commenting
Hmm – but if I’m not getting enough sunlight, how does it get sufficiently recharged?
The information at the site says it recharges with only a few minutes of exposure a week. It apparently needs less sun than you do. 🙂
dear developers, the point of life is not to be healthy, rather, the point of health is to live life. Health is a supporter, not the main thing. If people are not getting enough sun to be happy/healthy/sleep well, the solution is to get out more until they are, not to treat the sun like some sort of medication where a monitor tells you when it thinks you’ve had enough. If that solution leads to quitting one’s job, then so much the worse for the job.
We are not the developers if this product. We are a product news and review site. And where did you get the idea that this product would lead you to quitting your job? The fact that I’ve had indoor jobs and have poor sleep patterns doesn’t mean that I have to quit my job – I just need to go outdoors sometimes.
My apologies, Janet, this proves that I can’t write, particularly in a hurry.
First, I know you’re not the developers, I have been reading the site for some years now. That’s why I said “dear developers”, the comment was about the product, not about your post. It was directed to the developers if they read these and to readers, not to TG at all.
Again, the bit about quitting a job wasn’t directed at you, though I see that it can easily have been taken that way, I ought to have been clearer. The point of my comment was to express annoyance that there is a machine to tell people when they’ve had enough sun, and that so many circumstances restrict the ability to get sufficient light. One of the most common is work, particularly in the winter where it’s actually quite easy, in the north at least, to work from dark to dark. My point, which I wanted to apply generally and not to any particular person, was that it would be good, rather than getting a daily measured solar dosage, to get out more despite the job and, if the job makes that impossible, it might be worth having the job, rather than the sun, go by the boards. I wasn’t thinking of your particular job or sleep patterns at all, I know nothing about them.
Will it also warn me if I get too much exposure to the sun?
There are other gadgets that can warn you of over-exposure, but that’s not the purpose of this gadget.
@Janet – the Amazon description does say that this will also measure UV exposure, so while it won’t set off an alarm you *are* able to see how much you’ve had. This question’s answer says how to see UV exposure via the app: http://www.amazon.com/forum/-/Tx1ISAO1KGNBYO4/ref=ask_dp_dpmw_al_hza?asin=B00KX5X4T6