Every answer, part 32 of 145
Answers 621 to 640 of 2,899: Soma Labs' own answers about Soma, drafted from the pages of this site. Free to use under CC BY 4.0.
What the pod reads
Can I delete the skin photos and readings Soma Axon takes?
Yes. You can ask Soma to delete your data at any time, from the pod and the app. Once you do, it's gone from the pod, the app and Soma's systems within 30 days, and from Soma's backups within 90 days. To delete everything, you email privacy@somalabs.me. Soma is a general wellness product, and Soma Axon doesn't collect anything today, since the pod isn't available yet.
From FAQ, Home and Privacy Policy.
How will the Soma Axon ECG be taken?
Soma's pages don't spell that out. They list ECG as one of the pod's sensors, along with cameras, thermal, EEG, body composition and grip. They describe the reading as hands on the grips and feet on the plate while cameras, light and contact sensors do their work for a few minutes. Soma is a general wellness product, and it isn't cleared or approved by the FDA. The pod isn't available yet, and there's a waitlist.
What does Soma do with my resting heart rate?
In the Soma app, Mind reads your resting heart rate alongside HRV and breathing against your own usual range, then shows what moved its score. In the pod, Soma wants a higher resting pulse than last week to be something it can trace to you, with the room and the equipment ruled out. After a handful of visits, Soma will have a baseline built from your own readings. It's all general wellness, and neither the pod nor the app is available yet.
From Home, The same instrument, every week and FAQ.
Does Soma Axon read breathing?
Yes. Breathing is one of the things Soma says the pod reads, along with your skin, heart, body composition, balance and strength. The cameras handle it, reading pulse and breathing without touching you, so there's no cuff and no wires. In the Soma app, Mind also reads breathing against your own usual range between visits. Soma describes it as a general wellness product, and the pod is still being built.
Will the pod tell me my heart rate on the way out?
Soma says the pod shows you one calm number on your way out, without naming that number on its pages. Everything else waits in the Soma app, explained in plain words, with the margin of error for each value. Soma Axon is a general wellness product still being built, so the details describe the pod as it's being designed, and there's a waitlist.
How does a smartwatch's optical sensor compare with the cameras in Soma Axon?
They read in different ways and at different times. Soma's blog explains that a watch's optical sensor reads your pulse through the skin and gets less reliable when the wrist moves or the strap is loose, while being worn all day lets it follow heart rate trends. Soma Axon's cameras read pulse and breathing without touching you while you stand still once a week in the same pod. Soma sees the two working together. The pod is a general wellness product and isn't available yet.
From The same instrument, every week, Home, FAQ and Compare.
Is Soma Axon cleared by the FDA?
No. Soma Axon isn't a medical device, and it isn't cleared or approved by the FDA. Soma's comparison table lists its status as general wellness, and the site says it isn't intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease. That applies to everything the pod reads, from skin photos and heart and breathing to body composition, balance and grip strength. The first prototype is still being built, and there's a waitlist.
Does Soma Axon measure blood oxygen?
Blood oxygen isn't on the list Soma publishes for the pod. That list covers skin photos, heart and breathing, ECG, EEG, thermal imaging, body composition, balance and grip strength, plus an optional finger-prick blood test handled by a partner lab. Soma is a general wellness product, and Soma Axon is still being built, so the list describes the pod as it's being designed.
Can Soma's numbers be wrong?
Yes, and Soma says so. Its Terms say every number Soma shows is an estimate shown together with its uncertainty. They add that the estimates come from wellness signals and can be wrong. Each value is also meant to come with its margin of error and a note on whether the underlying science is well established or still being tested. Soma is a general wellness product, and Soma Axon isn't available yet.
From Terms of Use, Home, FAQ and Compare.
Does Soma show how much data a trend is based on?
Yes. In the Soma app, Body reads the trend across all your visits and always states its confidence and the amount of data behind each answer. Any figure Soma computes also carries its date, the amount of data behind it and the version of the engine that produced it. Soma is a general wellness product, and the pod that would feed those trends isn't available yet.
From Home, Terms of Use, FAQ and Compare.
Is Soma Axon an MRI?
No. A whole-body MRI takes images of your organs and tissue using a magnetic field and radio waves, according to Soma's full-body scans guide. Soma Axon isn't an MRI and doesn't take images of your organs. It reads your skin, heart and breathing, body composition, balance and strength with cameras, light and sensors you touch, once a week in a few minutes. Soma is a general wellness product, and the pod is still being built.
From Full-body scans compared, FAQ and Compare.
What does whole-body mean for Soma Axon?
It refers to reading you all over in one visit. Soma Axon reads your skin, heart, breathing, body composition, balance and strength the same way at every visit, and the cameras photograph your skin all the way around. It isn't an MRI and doesn't take images of your organs. Soma is a general wellness product, and the pod is still being built, with a waitlist for news.
Does my Soma record follow me from one pod to another?
Yes. Soma plans one account for every pod, so a member's record follows them from one venue's pod to another's, whether the pod is in Soma's studio, a longevity clinic, a gym, a workplace or a pharmacy. Each member keeps their own account at every pod and gets every value with its margin of error. Soma is a general wellness product, and no pod is open yet.
From For organizations, FAQ and Compare.
Will the Soma API give the margin of error for each reading?
That's the plan. Soma says each reading from its API will come with how sure Soma is of it, so an app can show the range next to the number. In the draft example, margin is the plus or minus around each value, and the values are made up. The API isn't open yet, and it covers what the pod reads at each visit, which Soma describes as general wellness.
From Developers and FAQ.
What will the Soma API cover?
What the pod reads at each visit. Soma is designing an API so the apps people already use can read their Soma results, with their permission. A member chooses what each app can read and can take that access back at any time, and if Soma didn't measure something, the API says so with no zero or guess in its place. It isn't open yet. Soma is a general wellness product, and developers can join early access.
From Developers and FAQ.
Can researchers use what Soma Axon reads?
Only with members who opt in. Soma says research teams can run studies with members who choose to join each study, inside a secure enclave, where the data stays de-identified and the team's analysis runs next to it, so nothing leaves. Using the Soma app doesn't enroll anyone in a study. Soma is a general wellness product, and its pod isn't available yet.
From For organizations, Developers, Privacy Policy, FAQ and Compare.
Does Soma sell the readings Soma Axon takes?
No. Soma says your data stays yours, and it doesn't sell it or use it for ads. There are no ads in Soma, and it doesn't give health data to data brokers. Members own what the pod reads, and a venue hosting a pod sees how often it's used but never anyone's results. Soma is a general wellness product still being built.
From Home, Privacy Policy, For organizations, FAQ and Compare.
Do I need to stand for the whole Soma Axon reading?
Yes. You stand still for a few minutes while the pod takes its reading, turning a quarter at a time for the skin photos, with your hands on the grips and your feet on the plate. Soma's first version is for adults 18 and over, in the United States, who can stand still for a few minutes. The recovery part follows the reading. Soma is a general wellness product, and Soma Axon is still being built.
Can teenagers use Soma Axon?
No. Soma says the first version of Soma Axon isn't for anyone under 18, and Soma as a whole is for adults 18 and over in the United States. If Soma learns it collected personal information from someone under 18, it deletes it. Soma is a general wellness product, and the pod is still being built, so no one can use it yet.
From FAQ, Privacy Policy and Compare.
How does Soma decide what moved a score?
A Soma score only sums up what was measured and what you reported, such as how you slept or whether you trained. Tap one and you'll see what moved it, with each measure set against your own usual range. Soma says every score shows what moved it, in the pod and in the app. It's a general wellness product, and the pod and app aren't available yet.