The sun is harsh during summer, especially for those who have fair skin, for their skin cells do not have the melanin required to combat the heat in our subcontinent. It is practically impossible to step out without a hat, an umbrella, or a liberal slathering of sunscreen.
Netatmo, a French company, has designed a product, called June, to help you be aware of how much sun exposure you get every day.
Too much sun can be very harmful and lead to premature aging signs like wrinkles and sunburns. It can even lead to skin cancer. This can be avoided by limiting your time in the sun. This is where June helps you. The little jewel shaped sensor pairs with an iOS app to monitor your exposure to UVA or UVB radiation. Its primary function is to nag you into wearing a hat, sunglasses, or sunscreen when it thinks you need protection. It comes with two bands – one leather and one synthetic – and can be worn as a bracelet or strapped onto a shirt as a brooch.
The app gives a daily sun forecast with details about the expected UV index, which is a measure of the expected risk of UV radiation from a scale of 0 to 15, and the items you should carry. When you wear the bracelet, the app tracks your activity in the sun in a timeline called “Sun dose”. If your sun dose goes over 100, it means your skin is going to burn.
June is smart enough to figure out your skin’s sensitivity by asking you six questions when you first login to the app. It also asks questions about your hair, colour of your eyes, and whether you frequently get sun burnt.
If you go outside and it is quite sunny, you will get a notification that it is a good idea to throw on a hat or some SPF 50. Otherwise, the experience is quite passive with the reflective sensor sitting comfortably on your wrist like a piece of jewellery. To make the gadget look like a fine piece of jewellery that women could wear on a daily basis, Netatmo partnered with a Jewellery designer.
June looks quite hoity – toity, with you pulling out a parasol (read: umbrella) the moment the little jewel tells you that the UV Index is high. It could make many women feel that they do not need to track how long they have been in the sun and they don’t need smart phone notifications on their wrist.
However, it does make women more aware of how much time they were outdoors, and how the exposure could impact their skin and their future, especially with the risk of getting skin cancer. With June, you will be surprised at the amount of sun exposure you get at the time you least expect it – like when you are returning home from work on a bike. June does seem to fulfill its purpose of making you aware of how often you are in the sun, and change your behavior accordingly. That definitely sounds like a successful product.
Know more at http://www.netatmo.com/en-US/product/june
