Review: La Roche-Posay's My Skin Track UV Sensor Offers Interesting Concept, but Needs Improvement

[MacRumors]

Skin care company La Roche-Posay (owned by L'Oreal) recently released its first tech product, a UV sensor that's designed to tell you how much sun exposure you're getting on any given day.

The My Skin Track UV Sensor, available from Apple, is meant to help you make sure you have adequate sun protection for long days spent in the sun. It's tiny, solar powered, and transfers data over NFC, so there's no battery and no need for charging.

The Skin Track UV Sensor sounds great in theory, but there are some design flaws and issues that I discovered over the course of several months of testing, which I've outlined below.

Design

The My Skin Track UV Sensor ships in two pieces. There's the blue and white plastic sensor portion, and a metal clip designed to fit on a sleeve, shirt collar, or cap where it can be exposed to the sun.

The sensor slides into the metal clip, which can be a little bit tricky. I'm not sure why it's shipped in two pieces because there isn't ever a need to take it out of the clip, but maybe La-Roche Posay is planning to release different enclosures in the future.

Size wise, the Skin Track Sensor is tiny. It's about the same size as my thumb nail, and I have a small thumb. There's a little window on the sensor that houses the UV detecting equipment and an NFC chip, with the window designed to let in light for tracking purposes.


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Article Link: Review: La Roche-Posay's My Skin Track UV Sensor Offers Interesting Concept, but Needs Improvement

 

[mbezzo]

Seems of little utility in the real world! Also, there's lots of new research that says the benefits of being in the sun (vitamin d production, etc.) far outweigh the potential for skin damage. Definitely worth looking into!

https://www.outsideonline.com/2380751/sunscreen-sun-exposure-skin-cancer-science

 

[Unity451]

But what's going to monitor that additional NFC radiation?

NFC Radiation is the biggest modern day threat since they started discovering dihydrogen monoxide in our food.

 

[mikethemartian]

But what's going to monitor that additional NFC radiation?

NFC Radiation is the biggest modern day threat since they started discovering dihydrogen monoxide in our food.

It’s not just in the food, it’s in the WATER!!!

 

[TheOtherJFK]

My Skin Track UV. God, that name is awful..

 

[SBlue1]

Apple Watch should get such a feature in the future. But one that works, unlike this thing.

 

[kingpushup]

Attach to watch band.. Let watch import the data.

 

[manu chao]

Seems of little utility in the real world! Also, there's lots of new research that says the benefits of being in the sun (vitamin d production, etc.) far outweigh the potential for skin damage. Definitely worth looking into!

https://www.outsideonline.com/2380751/sunscreen-sun-exposure-skin-cancer-science

There surely must be an optimum amount of UV exposure between not enough vitamin D production and sunburn. Where that optimum is can surely be debated (eg, if x hours of exposure gives you sunburn than x/2 hours is the optimum). Being able measure exposure makes it easier to stay close to that optimum without too much overshooting or undershootin.

However, my guess would be that the risk of skin cancer does not scale linearly with UV exposure while vitamin D production stays much closer to linear. Thus if you double the skin area exposed to the sun while also halving the exposure time, you might get close to the same amount of vitamin D while reducing your risk of skin cancer.

 

[manu chao]

Apple Watch should get such a feature in the future. But one that works, unlike this thing.

While the Watch is something you’ll likely wear most of the time, in temperate climates it will be hidden behind a sleeve for the majority of the year. But then UV exposure tracking is more important during the part of the year when short sleeves are worn if the main goal is protection against too much exposure.

However, if the goal is to get enough exposure, then the Watch being covered by long sleeves are a problem. But then again if the goal is to get enough exposure, then what percentage of your skin is uncovered needs to factored in as well.

The Watch also has a symmetry problem in that your orientation towards the sun will affect its UV exposure readings. Putting the UV sensor into AirPods reduces that problem and also solves the sleeves problem but also only for part if the population (those with short enough hair). And while AirPods are worn frequently by many people, few people will wear them as consistently as an Apple Watch (while being outdoors which is where this UV sensing matters).