How’s it going with the beta testing?
Dear Embrace supporters,
We know most of you are still waiting for your Embrace, and we continue to be grateful for your patience. Please read the whole post to learn more about the upcoming shipments.
More than a month ago we started beta testing the Embrace. This has been one of the most humbling and formative experiences in the life of Empatica. We are thankful to our companions in this journey: our beta testers. They’ve been testing the Embrace Beta, despite initial issues, providing us with priceless feedback.
What do the beta testers say?
The beta testers reacted to the Embrace Beta with the whole spectrum of emotions. Most feedback has been positive and the beta testers have been eager to help. Here’s a comment from one of our beta testers that hit us for its honesty and closeness to our mission.
“I like the most the simplicity. If not for the connectivity issues the app is very user friendly. The device itself is glorious in design, very sleek and attractive. Living in a world of seizure helmets and wheelchairs it is nice to have such an unobtrusive and attractive device.”
After reading such feedback, for an instant, we felt fulfilled for what we are building and gratified for our hard work. But we also know how much there’s still to do: we are determined to send you an Embrace that can meet and exceed your expectations. Below you can find an example that reminds us of exactly that.
“You probably do not want to post what I think about it right now [on your blog]. If this were a consumer model, I would be demanding a refund.”
We are committed to delivering an Embrace that passes the high bar we have set before us, even though it is taking longer than we hoped. We continue to focus on three main areas: user experience, bluetooth connection and the alerting algorithm, as well as getting Embrace delivered to all of you as soon as possible.
It’s here! A lot of people have been asking “what is that?” So, I’ll tell you! This is for people with epilepsy. If I…
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What’s the state of the Embrace Beta?
The majority of the testers liked the simplicity of the new app and the interaction with the Embrace. Right now, the bluetooth connection is not as reliable as it needs to be. In some cases it drops frequently and prevents some testers from using Embrace on a daily basis. We are already testing an improved connection that shows fewer disconnections, and we’ll make it available for our testers soon.
Speaking of alerts, the Embrace has already alerted some of the beta testers to serious events.
“The Embrace is impressive! We got another alert this morning, ran to her room and she was face down with a seizure/not breathing! We repositioned her and she is now pink and sleeping. It’s really a dream come through to be able to be ‘connected’ to her even when not in the same room! Something we never thought would be possible.”
Some of the testers, on the other hand, have been experiencing false alerts. That’s normal in a beta test. We want to reduce those to a minimum, without missing the events you most want to detect. What’s important is that our testers and their caregivers are aware of the possible issues. They are not using the Embrace Beta as a medical device. No one is putting themselves at risk.
We released an update yesterday to help solve most of these issues. To stress test this update we wore the Embrace when biking, running, skiing, parachuting, doing downhill, playing table tennis and, the office favorite, foosball. We’ve observed fewer false alerts during each of these activities.
The journey of our beta testers
We heard that many of you wanted to know what it’s like to test the Embrace Beta. We’ve selected some of the most representative comments coming from our testers. We’ve received some criticism as well as positive feedback, we are sharing them because we value that you are frank, open, and honest with us.
The Embrace has arrived
“When my embrace came, my dad cried. Just knowing I will be safe made him so emotional. I can only say thank you so many times.”
“My husband was an Indiegogo supporter for this company back in 2014, so we’ve been waiting forever! And when he gave it to me, way back when, I may or may not have cried”
The first impressions and first use
“It worked pretty well out of the box”
“[The most difficult step in getting the Embrace to work at the beginning was] pairing the device to the phone. It didn’t help that as the caregiver I first paired it to my own phone by mistake. But thanks to the support team, the problem was resolved quickly.”
“Due to my epilepsy and medications it’s hard to process and too timely hunting down links”
“2 hrs is somewhat long to charge, trying to figure out the best time to charge”
Everyday usage — understanding Bluetooth range and dealing with disconnections
“I’m a patient woman but I don’t want to be attached to my phone like this, we’re not together like that. Attempting to explain it to the Embrace is rather difficult. My husband, thankfully, is not put out by the assumption of the Embrace that I’m married to the iPhone — I actually think he’s amused.”
“We are working on getting our kiddo to keep the phone with her close by at all times as this is a challenge”
“I know there are bugs being worked out, but so far I like the watch. Obviously, as I have said, there are disconnect issues which do get annoying, however, I really think it is useful in getting across help when I need it to my caregiver (my husband). I really enjoy this and can’t wait to see how great it gets as things get fixed!”
Everyday usage — first correct alerts and some false alarms
“I’m a drummer and any time I play the drums or tap my hands it sends a false alarm which is very annoying”
“I liked alerts are working very well for real seizures and my husband still gets the notifications right away.”
“Although there have been false alarms, I don’t feel so alone and helpless”
“I liked that it was so fast. I had a bad seizure at home and my husband was contacted and called me immediately.”
What’s next?
These days we are manufacturing a bigger batch of Embrace watches. These won’t be Embrace Beta anymore. We will start the shipping operations at the end of April. We will send the next shipping to the people (with epilepsy) who supported our crowdfunding campaign. We had to select only people using an iPhone 5/6 living in United States due to compatibility and regulatory issues. These supporters will receive our confirmation email by mid April and will be able to wear their Embrace in the first half of May.
We will fulfill the rest of the pre-orders worldwide (both for Android and iPhone) by September 2016. We are going to manufacture two bigger batches at the end of May and July. We will ship non-stop during the whole period of May-September, performing regular weekly shipments.
Empatica Team
