More partner product than pure in-house products - There is a huge amount of cheap 'tat' out there which people would love to repurpose into something more useful for themselves. Fitness trackers and smart watches spring to mind and this awed me - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sv58aPvIonw - "Porting Python to a terrible $3 smartwatch".
The main obstacle is having the skills to do that and most won't have them. Second is not being sure you've got something exactly the same which can be hacked in the same way.
Something Raspberry Pi branded which one knows will work with tools provided to make hacking easier and fun adds a premium which makers will be happy to pay, maybe many.
I'd like a tracker or watch with a working BPM and SpO2 sensor which just sent that to my Pi SBC wirelessly. It would sure beat wearing an arm strap and being tethered by cable. Coupled with the Smart Pi Display above it would replace the live exercise tracking mess I previously created.
Those who still believe 'step counting' is a valid regime may buy into having similar with a display which tells them how many steps they have done when they walk through the door, benefit from historical graphs at the touch of a button.
Those afflicted with diabetes may like the same if there were a similar Pi blood sugar sensor and display.
I'm not expecting Raspberry Pi to produce cheap trackers, watches and sensors, having to jump through regulatory hoops; that's what the partnership delivers. Raspberry Pi's role would be to make such products usable and desirable to the Pi community.
The main obstacle is having the skills to do that and most won't have them. Second is not being sure you've got something exactly the same which can be hacked in the same way.
Something Raspberry Pi branded which one knows will work with tools provided to make hacking easier and fun adds a premium which makers will be happy to pay, maybe many.
I'd like a tracker or watch with a working BPM and SpO2 sensor which just sent that to my Pi SBC wirelessly. It would sure beat wearing an arm strap and being tethered by cable. Coupled with the Smart Pi Display above it would replace the live exercise tracking mess I previously created.
Those who still believe 'step counting' is a valid regime may buy into having similar with a display which tells them how many steps they have done when they walk through the door, benefit from historical graphs at the touch of a button.
Those afflicted with diabetes may like the same if there were a similar Pi blood sugar sensor and display.
I'm not expecting Raspberry Pi to produce cheap trackers, watches and sensors, having to jump through regulatory hoops; that's what the partnership delivers. Raspberry Pi's role would be to make such products usable and desirable to the Pi community.
Statistics: Posted by hippy — Wed Sep 03, 2025 6:08 pm