Fashion & Accessories

A Smart Belt From Korean Startup Welt Corp. Ltd

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Most people wear belts to hold their pants up, but the belt from Welt Corp. is a little different. This smart belt comes with unique tracking features, both in terms of activity and your eating habits. 

welt smart belt

About Welt Corp. Ltd

Welt Corp. is a healthcare IoT company with a mission to realize preventive healthcare. It was founded in 2016 by Sean Kang, CEO, and creator of WELT. The company is a spinoff of C-LAB, a Samsung Electronics venture program. It works on incorporating information technology into both hardware (like wearables) and software (like digital therapeutics).

The Smart Belt – WELT or Wellness Belt

Kang’s brainchild, WELT or Wellness Belt, with the same name as the company, is a smart belt that manages the wearer’s health. It helps wearer better understand their living habits and health conditions. As a first of its kind, the belt can help people manage their health in daily life.

The belt is designed for people who are not generally considered when we talk about innovation – older adults and physically disabled. Approximately 9,500 elderly Americans die because of falls each year. It is one of the leading causes of death from injury amongst people 65 or older.

WELT Accolades

Welt Corp. Ltd participated in the world’s largest appliances fair, CES 2020 (Consumer Electronic Show 2020), held in Las Vegas, USA. They revealed their smart belt for the first time. The Smart Belt Pro won the CES Innovation Award.  

More About WELT

Smart Belt Pro is the world’s 1st fall risk assessment smart belt that looks just like an ordinary belt. It is designed to lower the fall risk.

Fall Detection with WELT

The embedded sensors in the belt and the algorithms can accurately calculate the fall risk from abnormal gait patterns. Unlike the wrist wearables with fall detection, notification only comes after the fall has occurred.

The belt is built to prevent falls from unstable gait patterns, such as abnormal gait speed and symmetry. It senses and tracks any irregularities as the user walks, alerting them of future falls. If a user shows an unstable gait pattern and a higher fall risk, its companion app will send a warning notification through the user’s phone. The belt gets smarter the longer the user wears it. It updates their personalized health data on a continuous basis, so users get a more customized plan for their fitness goals over time.

Health Monitoring

Sensors embedded in the buckle measure your waist size, count the steps, calculate sitting time, and even monitor overeating. It offers many more innovative features for continuous health monitoring. You can monitor your waist size and discover any changes in your waist circumference over time. Like a steps tracker, this belt also tracks your steps, calories burned, and the distance you’ve walked. It can also monitor the period of inactivity by measuring the amount of time you spend sitting during the day. As the belt measures changes in your waist circumference, you can indirectly monitor your eating habits by tracking the changes in your waist.

Sensors embedded in the buckle measure your waist size, count the steps, calculate sitting time, and even monitor overeating. It offers many more innovative features for continuous health monitoring. You can monitor your waist size and discover any changes in your waist circumference over time. Like a steps tracker, this belt also tracks your steps, calories burned, and the distance you’ve walked. It can also monitor the period of inactivity by measuring the amount of time you spend sitting during the day. As the belt measures changes in your waist circumference, you can indirectly monitor your eating habits by tracking the changes in your waist.

The belt can also monitor the progression of Parkinson’s disease, dementia, and diabetes as it acts as a measurement tool.

The belt can last for two to three months on a single battery charge. This is much longer than other conventional wearables like smartwatches. Compared to most smartwatches, the measurement is more accurate and you get more detailed information.

How it Looks?

Although it is a tech-y belt, it looks just like a regular belt. You don’t have to worry about it not matching your formal outfits. The belt features Welt Corp.’s new Automatic Buckle, which is so comfortable that you wouldn’t want to go back to your old conventional buckle. The belt is made from Vera Pelle certified premium Italian leather. The leather strap has been handmade by master craftsmen using the premium Italian leather cowhide used by the finest fashion brands.

Look Forward To In Future

The company is now focussing on development of digital therapeutics which will be more in need especially in the post-COVID-19 era.

Welt Corp. is now working on developing a software that can deal with about six different diseases. The app examines whether patients who use the app and those who don’t have any different rate of remission.

For example, as a diabetic patient, you can use digital therapeutics with medicines. The app (part of digital therapeutics) will show when you have to take medicine, prompt you to do exercise regularly, and more. There are certain apps which serve as a pedometer and combined with WELT, you can keep a track of number of steps taken. The belt can also keep track of your waist measurement so that you can manage your blood sugar more effectively.

As your health provider will also have access to all the information, you can get tailored guidance and treatment resulting in better and effective treatment protocols.

Welt Corp. is the first Asian member of the Digital Therapeutics Alliance. At present, the company is working on digital therapeutics for alcoholism, insomnia and a disease called Sarcopenia, a decrease in muscle in the aging population. In the post-COVID-19 era, the company is opening up a new path in the medical field through well-prepared innovation, that is, the combination of healthcare and new technology. 

About Jinju Jeon

Senior Writer @KoreaProductPost

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