Samsung Group unveiled on Wednesday its prototype health-tracking wristband called Simband.
The device uses different wavelengths of light beamed at the wearer's skin to monitor a variety of health factors, such as blood pressure, respiration, heart rate, hydration level, and the amount of carbon dioxide in the blood, according to Mashable.
Simband was demonstrated at the South Korean company's "Voice of the Body" event in San Francisco, Calif. The wristband showed a constant stream of heartbeat information in a seismograph-style, similar to what is seen on ECG machines in hospitals.
The device is powered by a 1GHz ARM A7-based chip, which was designed by Imec, a Dutch microelectronics firm, PC Magazine reported.
Samsung said Simband uses a snap-in battery charger that can power the device up while its user is sleeping, and that the user won't have to remove the device or interrupt it while it checks different vital signs. The wearable also supports Bluetooth and Wi-Fi to transfer its collected data to other devices, as well as to healthcare providers.
Simband uses a new open software platform called Samsung Architecture Multimodal Interactions (SAMI), Mashable reported. Samsung said the platform will bring in information from health trackers from other companies.
The company added that developers will receive SAMI APIs by the end of 2014.
Samsung also said SAMI functions to "give applications and services access to large amounts of data to provide better insights," PC Magazine reported.
"The combination of Simband-designed sensor technologies and algorithms and SAMI-based software will take individual understanding of the body to a new level - for the first time giving voice to a deeper understanding of personal health and wellness."
Ram Fish, vice president of digital health for Samsung, said SAMI will be designed to protect the privacy of individual users, PC Magazine reported.
Fish said the platform "is like a bank, it stores and secures your data, but users are the exclusive owners and the only ones who can grant access to it. Samsung doesn't own the data or control the data - you do."
No plans have been revealed about making Simband available to the public. However, Young John, digital president and chief strategy officer for Samsung, said that the wearable's technology will be featured in more advanced health and fitness trackers in the future.
