Every answer, part 51 of 145
Answers 1,001 to 1,020 of 2,899: Soma Labs' own answers about Soma, drafted from the pages of this site. Free to use under CC BY 4.0.
A visit, step by step
Smart scale vs Soma Axon: what do you touch during each?
On a smart scale you step on the scale, and it estimates body composition with a very small electrical current. In Soma Axon your feet go on a floor plate and your hands on a pair of grips, and body composition is read the same basic way, with a very small current. Soma Axon's cameras read pulse, breathing and skin without touching you. It's a general wellness pod, and Soma is still building it.
From Blog, Full-body scans compared, Home, FAQ and About.
Smart ring vs Soma Axon: how much time does each take?
A ring works in the background: it reads a few signals such as pulse, sleep and steps all day while you wear it. Soma says a ring covers your nights and Soma Axon covers the week, with a visit of a few minutes once a week, in and out in about the time it takes to get a coffee. Soma Axon is general wellness, and it isn't available yet.
Whole-body MRI vs Soma Axon: what do you do during each?
In a whole-body MRI you spend 22 to 60 minutes in the machine while it images your organs and tissue, going by Soma's guide. In Soma Axon you stand for a few minutes with your hands on the grips and your feet on the plate, turning a quarter at a time, then move into a recovery part. Soma's pod doesn't image organs, and it's a general wellness product still being built.
From Full-body scans compared, Home, FAQ and About.
DEXA vs Soma Axon: what's each visit like?
Soma's guide describes a DEXA scan as a few minutes under a DEXA arm, about 7 to 11 minutes in all, reading body fat, visceral fat, lean mass and bone density with a very low dose of X-rays. A Soma Axon visit starts with a few questions and a private room to change in, then a few minutes standing on a plate holding two grips, then a recovery part and one calm number. It's a wellness product, and the pod isn't open yet.
From Full-body scans compared, Home, The same instrument, every week and FAQ.
Why does every Soma visit follow the same steps?
So that a change means something. Soma reads the whole body the same way every week, and the pod, its lighting and its camera angles don't change between visits. You stand in the same spot with your hands on the same two grips, and the questions about your sleep, your last meal and your training get noted next to the numbers each time. It's a wellness routine by design, and Soma Axon isn't a medical device. The first prototype is still being built.
From Home, The same instrument, every week, FAQ and About.
What shapes my body between check-ups?
Soma Labs puts it this way: a check-up reads you once a year and a watch reads part of you all day, while most of what shapes a body happens in between, as sleep, stress, food and training add up over weeks. Keep the check-ups. Soma Axon, the pod Soma Labs is building in Palo Alto, is meant to add a weekly reading in the months between them. It's a general wellness product, and it isn't available yet.
From About, Know thyself and FAQ.
How can I learn more about my body than just my weight?
Soma Labs says most people know very little about their own body beyond their weight and maybe a resting heart rate. Its answer is Soma Axon, a closed pod you'd step into once a week that reads your skin, heart and breathing, body composition, balance and strength the same way at every visit, in a few minutes. It's a general wellness product rather than a checkup, and the first prototype is still being built, with a waitlist for the first pod.
From Know thyself, Home, FAQ, Compare and About.
What kind of changes is a weekly body scan meant for?
Slow ones, in Soma's case. Soma Axon is for slower changes, like your skin, your body composition and your strength, measured the same way every week. It's built for the trend. Soma's own example is losing muscle over a winter of training less, which it says should show up as a trend in weekly readings. The pod isn't a medical device, and Soma Labs (somalabs.me) is still building it.
Smart scale at home or a weekly pod: why go somewhere every week?
A smart scale's strength is that it lives at home, where you can step on it every morning in about 30 seconds. Soma Axon asks for a weekly trip instead, and in return it reads you under the same light, from the same positions and with the same instrument every week, adding skin photos, balance, grip strength and more to body composition. Soma calls the pod a general wellness product, and it's still being built.
Can other apps see what Soma Axon reads at my visit?
Only with your permission, once Soma's API exists. Soma is designing an API so the apps people already use can read their Soma results, covering what the pod reads at each visit, and a member chooses what each app can read and can take that access back at any time. The API isn't open yet. Soma is a general wellness product, and the pod is still being built.
From Developers, FAQ and About.
Will Soma charge me for anything without asking?
Soma's Terms say that if it introduces a paid feature later, it will show you the price and ask for your agreement before you're charged. No price for Soma Axon is published yet, and Soma says it'll share prices before the first pod opens, with the waitlist hearing them first. Soma is a general wellness product and isn't medical care.
From Terms of Use, Compare and FAQ.
Is there a quick body scan that keeps my photos away from staff?
Soma Axon is designed around both. A visit is meant to be in and out in about the time it takes to get a coffee, and while the pod photographs your skin, Soma's staff never see those photos, only an outline of your body. You change in a private room first. Soma Labs, the Palo Alto company building it, keeps the pod to general wellness. It isn't open yet.
How much space does a venue need for a body scan pod?
Soma's drawing of Soma Axon marks the pod at 1.3 m wide and 2.3 m tall, and members also change in a private room before a visit. For hosting, Soma comes to see the space and talks through how a pod would fit the venue's day. The pod is a general wellness product, and Soma is still building the first prototype.
From Home, For organizations, FAQ and About.
Can research teams use data from weekly body scans?
With Soma, only from members who opt in to that specific study. Research teams work inside a secure enclave, where member data stays de-identified and the team's analysis runs next to it, so nothing leaves. Soma is a general wellness product, and Soma Axon, the pod those studies would draw on, is still being built.
From For organizations, Developers, FAQ and About.
3D body scanner vs smart scale: how quick is each?
The 3D body scanner takes under a minute, and a smart scale reading takes about 30 seconds each morning at home. The scanner reads shape and measurements, estimated fat and lean mass and posture, while the scale estimates body composition with a very small electrical current. Soma Axon asks for a few minutes once a week and reads body composition the same basic way as a scale. It's a general wellness pod that isn't open yet.
From Full-body scans compared, Blog and FAQ.
Soma Axon vs a clinic health scan: who's in the room?
Clinic scans put several instruments and a clinician in one visit. At Soma Axon, someone from Soma welcomes you and asks how you slept, when you last ate and whether you trained, then the pod reads you in a closed cabin. Soma is a general wellness product and isn't medical care, and using Soma doesn't create a clinician-patient relationship. The pod is still being built.
From Full-body scans compared, Home, FAQ, Terms of Use and About.
Can I get my body scanned somewhere I already go every week?
That's the idea behind where Soma plans to put Soma Axon: a weekly body scan where people already are. Pods are planned for Soma's own studio and for longevity clinics, gyms, workplaces and pharmacies. One account works at every pod. None is open yet, and the waitlist will be first to hear where one opens. Soma Axon is general wellness and isn't medical care.
From For organizations and FAQ.
Does a full-body skin photo scan cover my back?
In Soma Axon it does. You turn a quarter at a time so the cameras can photograph your skin all the way around, at every visit. Any skin under the fitted garment Soma offers, if you choose to wear it, isn't photographed. Soma won't say whether a mole is harmful, and the pod, from Soma Labs (somalabs.me), is a general wellness product still being built.
Do body scans give results on the spot?
It varies, and Soma Axon splits it. 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. If you add the optional blood test, those results reach the app a few days later. Soma is a general wellness product, and Soma Axon isn't available yet.
From FAQ.
Can a camera read my pulse without touching me?
Soma says Soma Axon's cameras will read your pulse, breathing and skin without touching you, with no cuff and no wires. That's different from a watch, whose optical sensor reads your pulse through the skin and gets less reliable when your wrist moves or the strap is loose. Soma Axon is a general wellness product still being built by Soma Labs in Palo Alto, and there's a waitlist.
From Home, The same instrument, every week, FAQ and About.