Muse boasts of chatbots that are capable of scanning food from the restaurant menus and provide dietary insights to the user based on his/her lifestyle
The Conzumex team
I bought my first (and probably the last, too) smartwatch out of curiosity about one and half years ago. I knew I didn’t need a smartwatch to track my fitness or monitor my food intake, but the sheer thought of flaunting it to my friends (who are more obsessed with iPhones than smartwatches) prompted me to go for this US$150 device.
After the initial excitement, my love for the smartwatch started to die down. Several factors contributed to this dissipation: first, as I mentioned above, I never needed one; and second, its low battery backup — it drains fast that I need to recharge it once every two days to keep it running. However, I still use this device but I no longer connect it to my mobile phone to use even its basic features.
But not all smartwatches in the market are the same.
The other day, I met an entrepreneur who has developed a smartwatch which he claims is much better than other similar devices in the market. From what he said, the most intriguing part of this smartwatch is its long battery life. Once charged, it doesn’t require you to recharge again at least for the next one and half years.
“Muse is an analog smartwatch that is fashionable, intelligent and more immersive than any other regular watch,” claims Sai Prasanth, Co-founder and CEO of Bangalore-based Conzumex, which owns and operates Muse. “Unlike other devices which are built on an Internet of Things (IoT) platform, Muse is built around Internet of You.”
For the uninitiated, Internet of You is an amalgamation of smart devices, Artificial Intelligence, and exergaming (video games that are also a form of exercise).
The startup was established in 2015 by Prasanth, Prathyusha Kamarajugadda and Ajay Yathindra. According to the co-founders, the “Internet of You” platform revolves around the user rather than things, and this approach adds more value to users and makes the product more user-friendly.
“While working on Muse, we saw a lot of potential in the wearable market segment. We realised that the ability to access user information in real time and to help the user gain multi-fold benefits out of it is the biggest benefit of this technology. We also noticed that although there are big players in this segment, none of them are fulfilling the needs of the customer, leaving them utterly dissatisfied,” Prasanth observes.
In addition to the basic functionalities (call alerts, ‘find my phone’, inactivity alert, event reminders, Bluetooth connectivity), this hybrid device comes with fitness tracking, automatic time updates on the go, sun exposure tracking, smart notifications, Near Field Communication (NFC) payments and customisable straps. It also eliminates the need to recharge quite often due to its better battery performance.
“For customers, the price is a key and it influences their purchase decision. User experience is also important, but existing devices are not durable enough because of the material used for making, They are easily breakable, not water-resistant, and have poor battery life. These are some of the key factors that lead users to reject this tech. We have tried to address all these concerns with Muse,” Prasanth elaborates.
The startup also claims that the mobile game in Muse turns day-to day activities into an engaging experience for the consumer and generates in-game rewards through the activities tracked by the watch, which in turn help the user remain motivated in the daily routine.
Also Read: My wife scolded me for buying this US$150 smartwatch. Is it worth it?
“Each of the services on the “Internet of You” platform is provided through different chatbots which are conversational in manner and offer an effective communication service for the user to execute tasks, input data and receive insightful information which is gathered through sensors, the mobile app and the internet,” Prasanth explains.
Using the chatbot, he shares, the platform is able to provide innovative services like a virtual fitness coach that curates a training plan based on the user’s personal activity interests, goals, fitness levels and schedule, while adapting to any change that happens around them — from the weather or even an unscheduled meeting. The same can be said about the virtual finance coach, which helps users to have well-informed analytics of their expenditures, earnings and savings.
“Another important feature is that the chatbots are capable of scanning food from the restaurant menus and provide dietary insights to the user (whether it is healthy or matches the user’s dietary requirement, or how much calories the food has). The chatbots are designed to be proactive, and as a result, they are always a part of life to make users have a better lifestyle without being intrusive,” Prasanth details.
The watch is expected to launch for pre-orders on Kickstarter, and will be priced at US$99. Available in three designs with two different sizes, Muse is compatible with both iOS and Android.
Initially, Conzumex is hitting the market with a limited-edition design of only 2,182 products of each variant.
“We will launch the watch for pre-orders very soon on Kickstarter, following which we will make it available in retail stores and e-commerce stores. In India, we are planning to partner with a Chennai-based men’s apparel retailer brand for launching offline sales. We also have partnerships in seven other countries to launch the products through online and retail channels. Apart from that, we are following an inbound marketing strategy with content marketing.
In December 2017, Conzumex received an investment of US$450,000 in the first round of funding from Chennai-based Keiretsu Forum, Lead Angels and other high net-worth individuals, including renowned movie producer Rajamouli and Shobu Yarlagadda.
—
Image Credit: Muse
The post This Internet of You smartwatch has an 18-month run time on a full recharge appeared first on e27.