Fitbit Founders Launch Luffu, an AI Platform to Help Families Monitor Health and Ease Caregiving

Fitbit founders launch AI platform to help families monitor their health | TechCrunch

Fitbit founders James Park and Eric Friedman have announced the launch of a new AI startup called Luffu that aims to help families proactively monitor their health. The duo are developing an "intelligent family care system" that will start with an app experience and then expand into hardware devices. Two years after their exit from Google, Park and Friedman are betting on AI to help lighten the mental burden of caregiving. According to a recent report, 63 million, or nearly 1 in 4 U.S. adults are family caregivers, up 45% from 10 years ago. Luffu uses AI in the background to gather and organize family information, learn day-to-day patterns, and flag notable changes so families can stay aligned and address potential wellbeing issues. "At Fitbit, we focused on personal health -- but after Fitbit, health for me became bigger than just thinking about myself," Park said in a press release. "I was caring for my parents from across the country, trying to piece together my mom's health care across various portals and providers, with a language barrier that made it hard to get complete, timely context from her about doctor visits. I didn't want to constantly check in, and she didn't want to feel monitored. Luffu is the product we wished existed -- to stay on top of our family's health, know what changed and when to step in -- without hovering." The pair note that today's consumer health market is filled with tools for individuals, but that real life health is shared across partners, kids, parents, pets, and caregivers. Family information is scattered across devices, portals, calendars, attachments, spreadsheets, and paper documents. With Luffu, people will be able to track the whole family's details, including health stats, diet, medications, symptoms, lab tests, doctor visits, and more. Users can log health information using voice, text, or photos. Luffu proactively watches for changes, and surfaces insights and alerts, such as unusual vitals or changes in sleep. The pair told Axios that people can ask questions using plain language to ask about their family's health, such as "Is Dad's new meal plan affecting his blood pressure?" or "Did someone give the dog his medication?" "We designed Luffu to capture the details as life happens, keep family members updated and surface what matters at the right time -- so caregiving feels more coordinated and less chaotic," Friedman said in the press release.

Fitbit Launches Luffu, AI-Powered Health Tracking for the Whole Family

If you've ever wanted a way to keep all of your family's health records in place, Fitbit may have come up with a solution. Fitbit, well-known for its fitness wearables, announced the launch of its own health care system on Wednesday. Luffu, which translates to the Old English word for "love," uses AI to create what it calls an "intelligent family care system." The platform allows family members to share all their health information through an app. It's unclear when Luffu will be officially available, but you can sign up for the waitlist to get access to the limited public beta. Pricing or other details have not been announced. Luffu will allow families to keep track of everyone's doctor's appointments, test results, vaccine records, medications, symptoms, diet and more. The platform uses AI to learn your family's health history and patterns, and to alert you to any changes that should be addressed, such as missed medications or abnormal vitals. The AI function organizes the data submitted into the system. The app will also connect to third-party apps and wearables, such as the Fitbit. Luffu is meant to lighten the mental load of family care by organizing all this health data in one place, its co-founder said. "I was caring for my parents from across the country, trying to piece together my mom's health care across various portals and providers, with a language barrier that made it hard to get a complete, timely context from her about doctor visits," said Luffu co-founder James Park. Luffu will include alerts and a space to log health and medication information via voice, text, photos, and other health portals and devices. The key medical information can be shared across the platform with spouses, caregivers and parents. A representative for Fitbit did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

'We're building something I want for my family and your family': Fitbit co-founders are launching a new family-wide health tracking app, but we have our reservations

While it could be a life-saver for caretakers of children and aging adults, there are concerns over the possible added stress it could spark Two years on from parting ways with Google, Fitbit co-founders James Park and Eric Friedman have stepped into a new era of fitness tracking with their new startup Luffu - which shifts the focus from individual to family health monitoring. Deemed as an "intelligent family care system", Luffu aims to help families proactively monitor their health and fitness levels from one place, all while quietly using AI "in the background" to gather your family's medical information from connected devices and services such as Apple Health and Fitbit. It can also be used to input information manually using voice prompts, text, and photos, and allows users to ask questions for family members' specific needs. In a press release, co-founder Park went into detail about what influenced him to start Luffu, sharing "I was caring for my parents from across the country, trying to piece together my mom's health care across various portals and providers, with a language barrier that made it hard to get complete, timely context from her about doctor visits." Luffu, which will expand from its software startup into hardware in the future, aims to not only help users manage the health of their children, but also their aging parents if they're primary caretakers. Even pets are included. That said, it will offer more than just a place for you to view the health status of each connected family member. Though that's Luffu's main aim, the overall experience will come in different forms. As well as logging your health by accepting voice prompts, photos, and more, its AI model acts as a 'guardian' and will watch out for any health changes, alerting you once it's become familiar with each member's health patterns. Additionally, its co-founders say it will serve as an easy Q&A model that allows you to use simple language to ask questions about individual health statuses - which can all be shared directly with family members. At the moment Luffu is in a stage of private testing, but you can join the waitlist on the Luffu website. However, in light of Park and Friedman's ambitious new venture, we have our reservations. If there's anyone who could lead family-wide fitness tracking, it's the co-founders of Fitbit and on paper, Luffu could ease a lot of pressure for those with caring responsibilities for children and elderly family members - but there are a few gaps in the system. As a veteran with ample experience with the best fitness trackers, our Senior Fitness and Wellness Editor, Matt Evans, is in two minds about Luffu. Here's what he thinks about the new fitness tracking service: "After the Fitbit founders left Google a couple of years ago, their new venture is a surprising one; a health platform focused on family caregivers rather than individual fitness fans. "I can certainly see this working for some, especially for those juggling young kids and ageing relatives. In the press release, Luffu uses the term 'family CEO', and the app aims to lighten some of that invisible cognitive load, reducing the stress and burnout that comes with it. Interacting with wearables features like Fall Detection, medication reminders and so on could certainly lead to more effective household management. "However, I can also see Luffu adding to that stress in some cases, as constant streams of information about your loved ones might lead to obsessive checking and encouraging that kind of 'helicopter' parenting and family management, a bit like constantly refreshing social media feeds. Careful implementation of these tools are needed, otherwise the stress of 'cyberchondria' will only add to a caregiver's mental load."

Fitbit's founders push AI into family caregiving

Why it matters: After helping turn personal health tracking into a mass habit at Fitbit, James Park and Eric Friedman are betting the next big shift is shared health, tapping AI to help ease the heavy mental load of caregiving. Driving the news: Park and Friedman on Tuesday unveiled Luffu, a self-funded startup building what it calls an "intelligent family care system," starting with an app and eventually expanding into hardware. * The product uses AI to organize family health data, learn routines and call attention to potentially meaningful changes before they become crises. * The company has about 40 employees, many from Google and Fitbit, and is currently in private testing. How it works: Luffu's AI is designed to operate mostly in the background, pulling together fragmented information that usually lives across portals, calendars, devices and documents. * Families can log health information using voice, text or photos, with AI automatically extracting and organizing details. * The system watches for patterns across multiple people -- kids, parents, partners and even pets -- and flags issues like missed medications, unusual vitals or changes in activity and sleep. * Users can ask plain-language questions such as, "Is Dad's new meal plan affecting his blood pressure?" or "Did someone give the dog his medication?" and get tailored answers or charts. What they're saying: "Our philosophy is quiet most of the time, helpful at the right time," Park and Friedman told Axios, describing Luffu as a guardian, not a surveillance system. * Alerts are customizable and designed to reduce anxiety, not create it, Park said. * "I didn't want to hover, and my mom didn't want to feel monitored," Park said in a statement, reflecting on the experience of piecing together care across providers and portals. Families control what information is shared and with whom, the founders told Axios. * "For instance, a user will be able to designate another person to have 'Guardian' level of control over their account which allows full control over a person's care and permissions." * People will also be able to control whether their data will be used to train Luffu's AI, they said. The big picture: Park and Friedman say the idea grew directly out of their own lives after Fitbit. * At Fitbit, they helped make personal health data mainstream, building a platform used by nearly 150 million people. * But caregiving for aging parents, often from afar, exposed how poorly today's health tools work for families trying to coordinate care. Zoom out: Roughly 63 million U.S. adults are now family caregivers, according to recent research, up sharply from a decade ago -- and the burden often falls on people juggling kids, careers and aging parents. * Of the technology that is out there, most is designed for individuals, not the constellation of people who care for them. What's next: The company plans to expand beyond software into hardware, but for now Park and Friedman are focused on refining the app and onboarding early users.

Fitbit founders Park and Friedman launch AI startup Luffu

Fitbit founders James Park and Eric Friedman announced Luffu, a new AI startup developing an intelligent family care system to help families monitor health. The platform starts as an app and plans to expand into hardware devices, using AI to lighten the mental burden of caregiving. Park and Friedman exited Google two years ago. A recent report states that 63 million U.S. adults, nearly one in four, serve as family caregivers, marking a 45 percent increase over the past decade. Luffu operates AI in the background to gather and organize family information across multiple sources. The system learns day-to-day patterns and flags notable changes, enabling families to remain aligned and address potential well-being issues before they escalate. Park drew from personal experience in developing Luffu. In a press release, he stated, "At Fitbit, we focused on personal health -- but after Fitbit, health for me became bigger than just thinking about myself." He described caring for his parents from across the country, piecing together his mother's health care across various portals and providers. A language barrier complicated obtaining complete, timely context from her about doctor visits. Park noted, "I didn't want to constantly check in, and she didn't want to feel monitored. Luffu is the product we wished existed -- to stay on top of our family's health, know what changed and when to step in -- without hovering." The consumer health market currently offers tools primarily for individuals. Real-life health management, however, involves shared responsibilities among partners, children, parents, pets, and caregivers. Family information exists in scattered forms, including devices, portals, calendars, attachments, spreadsheets, and paper documents. Luffu consolidates these into a single view for the entire family. The platform tracks specific details such as health stats, diet, medications, symptoms, lab tests, doctor visits, and additional related data. Users log health information through voice input, text entries, or photos. Luffu then proactively monitors for changes and surfaces insights along with alerts. Examples include notifications for unusual vitals or alterations in sleep patterns. Users interact with Luffu by posing plain-language questions about family health. The founders told Axios that queries can include "Is Dad's new meal plan affecting his blood pressure?" or "Did someone give the dog his medication?" These features allow families to access relevant information without navigating multiple disparate sources.

Worried About Your Family's Health? Say Hello to Luffu

The folks behind Fitbit say that their second healthcare journey is a shift from apps for individuals to those that can help a family A full nineteen years James Park and Eric Friedman began began their journey towards mapping personal health on a wearable via Fitbit, the duo is back again in an AI avatar. Named "Luffu" the AI startup aims to help families proactively monitor their health via an intelligent family care system that begins with an app and would hopefully expands into hardware. "At Fitbit, we focused on personal health -- but after Fitbit, health for me became bigger than just thinking about myself," said James Park in a media statement. He recalls that several challenges faced while looking after his parents health made him join hands with old partner Eric Friedman to consider this AI-led "intelligent family care system." "I was caring for my parents from across the country, trying to piece together my mom's health care across various portals and providers, with a language barrier that made it hard to get complete, timely context from her about doctor visits. I didn't want to constantly check in, and she didn't want to feel monitored. Luffu is the product we wished existed -- to stay on top of our family's health, know what changed and when to step in -- without hovering," Park noted. The Fitbit story and how it converted into Luffu now The duo came up with the idea of Fitbit in 2007 in the electronics and fitness pace and made several tie-ups and an acquisition over the years. In 2021, the company was acquired by Google for $2.1 billion and absorbed into its hardware division. Though the entity faced some antitrust queries around Google's access to health records, things panned out well ultimately. A year after the acquisition, Google rebranded Fitbit devices as "Fitbit by Google" before changing it once again in March 2024 to just Google Fitbit. Two months before this event, it was announced that both Park and Friedman were leaving the company as per the deal and following the reorganisation of Google's hardware teams. In August that year, Google discontinued Fitbit smartwatches for Pixel Watch with the brand retaining its presence on trackers and its apps. Luffu is powered by AI, but it's designed to feel more human and work quietly in the background -- not AI tacked on for tech's sake. It isn't a chatbot layer, says the press release. "AI is built into the entire product experience to help families capture and organize health information, learn what's normal over time, notice what changed and get personalized proactive guidance that reflects real life -- not generic answers," the company said. Incidentally, the name Luffu (pronounced loo-foo) comes from the Old English word for love. "Because at its heart, family caregiving is love in action, channelled through all of the gestures, big and small, that protect and nurture the people who matter most." Who would be the target audience of the AI solution? The founders quote from a research that suggests one in four US adults are family caregivers in their 40s and 50s who need support in managing appointments, prescriptions and logistics with love, but out of necessity. For many, health becomes a constant question of who's okay and what needs attention across all the people and pets they care for, and their own personal health often slips in the process. The idea behind Luffu is to use AI in the background to gather and organise family information, understand day-to-day patterns, flag sudden changes so that others in the family stay aligned at all times and are prepared for potential health issues. The duo believes that a shift from the existent consumer health market focus on individuals to the real life issues shared by a family has taken a long time coming. Typically within a family, data related to healthcare is scattered across devices, portals, calendars, attachments, spreadsheets, paper documents, and sometimes none of these. What Luffu aims to do is bring all of this under one folder and then track the family's health details, including the stats, the diet, medications if any, early symptoms, laboratory tests, medical visits etc. Given that their sole purpose is to ensure ease of operations for that one family member who helms the health outlook of all others, Park says they took care to ensure that users can log into the system and use voice, text or images to store the data. Once done, leave everything to Luffu which watches and reports changes, shares alerts and even provides insights on unusual vitals. The duo behind Fitbit describe this as another beginning. This time of a larger vision to create thoughtful and human-focused products that keep families healthy, safe and connected. Luffu begins as a service for people with an app experience, with the goal of expanding into an ecosystem of first-party hardware products designed to complement the service.