Paris, France — Withings’ Smart Blood Pressure Monitor has won the iF Gold Product Design Award 2012 and will in future be recognised with the iF label. This is in addition to the CES Innovations Award from the USA’s Consumer Electronics Show in January this year.
Withings designs, develops, and industrialises connected objects. The company is a French start-up founded by Cedric Hutchings and Eric Carreel. Withings has worked on this product with Eliumstudio, a Paris-based industrial design studio.
Withings distributes its Smart Blood Pressure Monitor in consumer electronics shops such as Apple Stores, FNAC & Best Buy instead of targeting medical distributors as their primary focus. In doing this, Withings says it ‘democratises’ the use of health devices in everyday life, by designing and creating a device which is more in line with products from the fitness sector rather than referencing medical equipment which is usually used in hospitals.
Cédric Hutchings, Withings co-founder comments: “By recognising Withings with this Gold award, iF recognises how health devices and services have evolved into smart communicating objects. Up until now, health technology devices have been complicated with functional designs which are more in line with medical devices used in hospitals rather than being stylish objects used to improve your lifestyle. Both the design of the Withings Blood Pressure Monitor and its interface have an ability to easily change people’s daily habits. With its disruptive design and user-friendly interface, one of Withings’ main goals was to create a blood pressure monitor which can be used at home and which demonstrates how technology can seamlessly help people maintain a healthier lifestyle.”
Pierre Garner, eliumstudio: “For us, this project has been an opportunity to explore a new typology of objects: connected objects dedicated to health. We really wanted to express the concept of health in terms of wellness, simplicity and conviviality. We therefore wanted to take away its medical image, which is too often associated with this kind of product. The result is an innovative cuff, combining attractive and qualitative materials, to make a smart product which is coherent, compact and simple enough for daily use.”
With the innovative design of The Smart Blood Pressure Monitor, Withings says that it breaks pre-conceptions of traditional medical devices by making a stylish object which is desirable. It also aims to help make self-measurement, which is recommended by health professionals, simple and more accessible to people.
The Withings Smart Blood Pressure Monitor is a plug-and-play system for blood pressure measurement and tracking. Users simply wrap the blood pressure cuff around their arm and plug it directly into their iPad, iPhone or iPod touch using the incorporated cable. Once connected, the Withings App launches instantly on the iOS device and is ready to begin the measurement. When the reading is complete, the full results (Systole, Diastole and heart rate) are saved directly on the device, eliminating manual tracking.
The Smart Blood Pressure Monitor enables an easy and reliable remote exchange of data. A user’s stats can be accessed instantly from their iOS device or from their personal Withings webpage. Results can easily be shared by emailing results to a doctor or by using the device’s automatic sharing feature to sync with personal health record sites or an online coaching service provider.
For the last 58 years, the iF product design awards have been an internationally recognised label, and the iF brand has become a symbol for outstanding achievements in design. During the judging process, design experts from all over the world come together in the iF juries to evaluate the entries, so that excellent design is recognised and rewarded.