Wearable devices have been taking on an ever greater range of roles in recent times as we, or at least a certain section of society, become increasingly comfortable monitoring and quantifying ever growing aspects of our life.

It should perhaps come as no surprise therefore, that a Silicon Valley startup want to take the quantified self into a place few have tried treading before.

Ava is a wearable bracelet designed to help couples in their attempts to have a baby.  The bracelet aims to provide accurate fertility readings from the comfort of the home.

Quantified fertility

The company, which also has a base in Switzerland, consists of a wristband that measures the pulse, temperature and various other metrics that help it to calculate the prime fertility periods for a woman each month.

Pregnancy, so I’ve been told, is largely a matter of timing, especially as we age, with conception most likely during a six day window each month.  Rather than guess when that window is, there are a number of solutions to try and guide couples, but few really seem to do the trick with any reliability.  That’s where Ava comes in.

The device, which costs $199 and began shipping this summer, gathers data across nine different metrics to calculate the period by which the woman can conceive.

The company claim to have undergone testing of the device at the University Hospital of Zurich, in which they accurately predicted the ovulation times of women with 89% accuracy.  Unfortunately the study has not been peer reviewed yet so it’s hard to verify the claims the company makes.

Whilst it’s undoubtedly a nice idea in a very worthy field therefore, at the moment I’d say the jury is still out on its effectiveness.  Check out the video below to learn more about Ava, and let me know your thoughts in the comments below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tqjcH3b27u0