Inspired by Coronavirus, Immutouch Wristband Prevents Face Touching

There are people across the globe who are concerned that coronavirus COVID-19 may reach them. It’s spurned a mad run on hand sanitizer and face masks. The Immutouch wristband has arrived to help keep people remain healthy.

One of the best ways to keep ourselves healthy is to avoid touching our faces. It’s a tough habit to break, though. So the folks at Slightly Robot rushed the Immutouch wristband into production to help prevent people from touching their faces, decreasing their chances of catching coronavirus.

How Immutouch Works

First, just to be sure that this article doesn’t do anything to increase the worldwide panic about the coronavirus. Health experts have said the people mainly at risk with coronavirus are those who are elderly or have compromised immune systems The majority of people who catch the disease will only have very mild symptoms.

That said, no one wants to be a statistic and catch COVID-19. Experts say one thing we can do to hopefully keep the disease at bay is to stop touching our faces, as we can catch the disease from touching a person who is infected, and if we then touch our face, then we give the virus a pathway to our own bodies.

Slightly Robot wants to help. They were already helping those with trichotillomania, the disorder that leads sufferers to pull out their own hair. They created a wristband to prevent them from hurting themselves in that manner.

With the coronavirus fears running rampant, Slightly Robot went to work and redesigned the wristband to create Immutouch. It will vibrate if you touch your face, as the accelerometer will sense the movement of your hand 10 times every second.

When you first set up the Immutouch wristband, it will take calibrations that it will use to buzz when you touch, or even come close to touching, your eyes, nose, or mouth. A smartphone app provides data showing the times you touched your face so that you can be more aware.

This wristband is basically a training device to aid in training you to stop touching your face, just as the original device was designed to train people to not pull out their hair.

“A problem the size of COVID-19 requires everyone to do their part, large or small, said Matthew Toles, Slightly Robot co-founder. “The three of us happened to be uniquely well-equipped to tackle this one task and felt it was our duty to at least try.”

Slightly Robot co-founder Justin Ith further explained the motivation to create the device. “We built Immutouch because we knew we could do it quickly, therefore we see our communities reacting to this outbreak with deep concern and fear.” He added that his father has “an autoimmune disease that requires him to take immunosuppressant medication. Being in his late 60s with a compromised immune system, I’m trying my best to keep the communities around him and my family clean and safe.”

Availability

The Immutouch wristband is available now for immediate shipping and sells for $50. “We’re not looking to make money on this,” explained Ith. “We are selling each unit nearly at cost, accounting for cost of materials, fabrication, assembly, and handling.”

Are you concerned about coronavirus? Would you be interested in the Immutouch wristband to help prevent touching your face? Share your thoughts and concerns in the comments below.

Image Credit: Immutouch