The Digi-Care ERI Wearable Tracks Your Activity Without GPS

A unique, nicely designed fitness wearable just hit Indiegogo. Called the Digi-Care ERI, this Shenzhen-made wearable can track your steps and, most interestingly, trace your activity route using a magnetic sensor rather than GPS, allowing you to see where you’ve been without reducing battery life.

The device comes in multiple candy colors and the company is looking for $50,000 in funding. They’re selling early-bird models for $39 and expect to sell the final product for $99.

I saw the device at the TechCrunch/Technode event in Shanghai and was duly impressed. While I can’t vouch for the accuracy of the location tracking, the company claims they can get one month of battery life out of one charge and that it can sense different activities including cycling, walking, and running. The company is also offering an open SDK to allow programmers to access various data points including temperature as well as build notifications and NFC interaction into the system.

Will they ship? The company said they product was ready and working and they demoed it live. It looks like a more angular Fitbit Force and has a bright OLED screen. In a world full of wristlets, it’s nice to see someone going a slightly different direction.