This Wristband Will Tell You When You Need to Reapply Sunscreen

No matter if it’s overcast or a scorching hot, sunny day, it can be a challenge to estimate adequate sunscreen application. Kansas City-based dermatologist Brian Matthys, MD, knows first-hand the perils of miscalculating sunscreen use. His experiences with chronic sunburn and watching his patients grapple with skin cancer prompted him to create Eclipse Rx, a wristband that measures sun exposure in order to notify you when to reapply sunscreen.

“After 20 years of watching people get skin cancer and not knowing what they need to do to prevent it, I just felt like, enough is enough,” he told The Kansas City Star.

The purpose of the wristband is to allow sunbathers and outdoors enthusiasts to enjoy the sun without having to worry about how often they should be applying sunscreen. Eclipse Rx is solar-powered, and can be customized to send sunscreen alerts based on the wearer’s skin tone on a 1-through-6 scale. The wristband will tell the user their daily UV exposure. Matthys plans to sync the app with Apple Health. He hopes that wearers will able to share the wristband’s data with their dermatologist to evaluate their overall sun exposure habits.

The wristband is still patent-pending, and the design is still in the works. Engenious Design, a medical device design firm and Crema, a tech creative agency, are partnering to create Eclipse Rx’s smartphone app. Currently, there is no set release date for the wristband.