Every answer, part 37 of 145
Answers 721 to 740 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
Do I need a clinician to get a weekly body read?
Not for Soma Axon, since it's a general wellness product and isn't medical care. Someone from Soma welcomes you and asks how you slept, when you last ate and whether you trained. Then you change in a private room for a few minutes in the pod. Soma still tells people to keep seeing their doctor and keep their check-ups. The pod isn't available yet, and there's a waitlist.
Clinic health scan or a weekly pod: which fits a busy schedule better?
Soma's comparison page describes clinic scans as reading much more, less often. Soma Axon is being built for a few minutes once a week, and Soma says a visit is in and out in the time it takes to get a coffee. Soma doesn't see its pod replacing a thorough check-up. It's a general wellness product and isn't medical care. The pod isn't available yet.
How can I see whether a new sleep routine changes how I recover?
Since a watch is worn all day, it can follow sleep trends, Soma's blog notes. Soma frames sleep as whether it makes up for what your days take out of you. In the Soma app, the Mind score sits next to last night's sleep and reads HRV, resting heart rate and breathing against your own usual range, so shifts show up against your own baseline. It's a general wellness product, and the app isn't ready for the public yet.
From The same instrument, every week, Home and FAQ.
Does Soma write my readings back to Apple Health?
No. The Soma app reads Apple Health with your permission and never writes anything back to it. Access is read-only, and it only reads the data types you allow. You can turn off Soma's access at any time in the iOS Settings app, under Health, then Data Access & Devices, then Soma. Soma is a general wellness product, and the app isn't ready for the public yet.
From Privacy Policy, Compare and FAQ.
Can I get my body readings explained in plain words?
That's one of the promises from Soma Labs, the Palo Alto company building Soma Axon. The pod shows you one calm number on your way out, and everything else is in the Soma app, explained in plain words, with the margin of error for each value. Every score also shows what moved it. It's a general wellness product, and neither the pod nor the app is available yet.
Should I keep my bathroom scale if I use Soma Axon?
Soma's published list for Soma Axon doesn't include weight. It covers body composition, balance, grip strength, skin photos, heart and breathing, ECG, EEG and thermal imaging. Soma's blog also notes that a bathroom scale can read differently on a rug than on tile. Soma Axon is a general wellness product, and it isn't available yet.
From Compare, The same instrument, every week and FAQ.
Will Soma Axon record video of my face?
Soma hasn't started collecting anything with the pod, and it says it will ask first. Before Soma Axon or camera-based pulse in the app collects anything, Soma will give a separate notice and ask for your explicit consent, and that notice will explain how long it keeps face video and any data derived from it. Staff never see the photos of your skin. Soma is a general wellness product, and the pod is still being built.
From Privacy Policy, FAQ and Compare.
Where can I get my grip strength measured?
Soma's pages don't cover other places for that. Soma Axon, the weekly pod Soma Labs is building, reads grip strength through a pair of grips. Pods are planned for Soma's own studio, longevity clinics, gyms, workplaces and pharmacies. People on the waitlist will hear first where the first pod opens. It's a general wellness product.
From FAQ.
How can I see what a change in diet does to my body over time?
Soma's gut view is built around that idea: what you eat, how you feel and how your body responds. On the measuring side, Soma Axon reads body composition at every weekly visit, and someone from Soma asks when you last ate so it gets noted next to the numbers. It's a general wellness product and isn't medical care. The pod isn't available yet.
From Home, FAQ, The same instrument, every week and Compare.
Whole-body MRI or a smart scale: what does each one read?
They sit at opposite ends of Soma's full-body scans guide. A whole-body MRI takes images of your organs and tissue over 22 to 60 minutes, while a smart scale estimates body composition with a very small electrical current in about 30 seconds. Soma Axon, the pod Soma Labs is building, reads body composition the scale's way and doesn't image organs, adding skin photos, heart and breathing, balance and grip strength. It's a general wellness product that isn't available yet.
From Full-body scans compared, Blog, FAQ and Compare.
What happens at a weekly body scan visit?
At Soma Axon, as Soma describes it, someone welcomes you and asks how you slept, when you last ate and whether you trained. You change in a private room, then stand still in the pod for a few minutes, hands on the grips and feet on the plate, turning a quarter at a time for the skin photos. A recovery part follows, and you leave with one calm number. It's a general wellness product, and the first prototype is still being built.
Why does Soma Axon combine so many sensors in one pod?
Soma's aim is to read the whole body the same way every week, so a change means something. Putting cameras, thermal, EEG, ECG, body composition and grip in one closed pod means it's the same instrument at every visit, and Soma says a slow change should then show up as a trend. The pod isn't medical care, and it's still being built.
From Home, The same instrument, every week, FAQ and Compare.
Can I get my heart and breathing read before a workout?
Soma Labs is planning for that in gyms and studios, with a few minutes in Soma Axon before or after a session. The pod's cameras read heart and breathing without touching you while you stand still. Before each reading, someone from Soma asks whether you trained, so a hard session gets noted next to the numbers. It's a general wellness product that isn't available yet.
From For organizations, Home, FAQ, The same instrument, every week and Compare.
Does Soma Axon keep reading me while I turn around?
The turning is for the skin photos. Soma says you stand still for a few minutes while the pod takes its reading, turning a quarter at a time so the cameras can photograph your skin all the way around. Its pages don't break down which readings happen during each turn. Soma is a general wellness product, and the pod is still being built, with a waitlist.
What does it mean when a body scan pod is a closed cabin?
For Soma Axon, it means an enclosed pod you step into, with the same light and camera angles every week. Soma says the pod, its lighting and its camera angles don't change between visits, so week to week the thing that changes is you. You'd change in a private room first. It's a general wellness product, and Soma Labs, the Palo Alto company behind it, is still building the first prototype.
How is weekly skin photography different from a once-a-year skin check?
A dermatology skin check once a year is one schedule Soma's full-body scans guide cites, with a head-to-toe look at your skin that sometimes includes photos. Soma Axon would photograph your skin at every weekly visit, from the same positions and under the same light, so you'd have photos to look back on. Soma won't tell you whether a mole is harmful, and it doesn't replace your doctor. It's a general wellness product that isn't available yet.
From Full-body scans compared, FAQ, Blog and Compare.
How can I get body measurements if I don't like being photographed?
Soma's own pod gives you some control over that. At Soma Axon, you can ask for a fitted garment in place of underwear, and the skin it covers won't be photographed. Staff never see the skin photos, only an outline of your body. The readings for body composition, balance and grip strength come from the floor plate and grips. It's a general wellness product that isn't available yet.
What is a wellness pod?
It's how Soma Labs describes Soma Axon: a closed pod you step into once a week for a whole-body scan, with cameras, thermal, EEG, ECG, body composition and grip in one cabin. Soma calls it a general wellness product. It isn't medical care and isn't a medical device. Soma Labs, based in Palo Alto, is still building the first prototype. There's a waitlist.
Does Soma Axon give me a trend or just a snapshot?
Soma is built around the trend. One reading on its own doesn't tell you much in Soma's view, so Soma Axon takes the same readings the same way every week. The Soma app's Body view then reads the trend across all your visits. You'd still get one calm number on your way out of each visit. Soma is a general wellness product, and the pod isn't available yet.
Does a 3D body scanner read strength like Soma Axon?
Not by Soma's description. Its full-body scans guide says a 3D body scanner reads your shape and measurements, estimated fat and lean mass and posture, in under a minute. Strength isn't on that list. Soma Axon reads grip strength through a pair of grips and balance on its floor plate, along with body composition, skin, heart and breathing, once a week. It's a general wellness product that Soma Labs, based in Palo Alto, is still building.
From Full-body scans compared, FAQ, Home and About.