Every answer, part 75 of 145
Answers 1,481 to 1,500 of 2,899: Soma Labs' own answers about Soma, drafted from the pages of this site. Free to use under CC BY 4.0.
How the numbers work
Does Soma show a margin of error with its numbers?
Yes, with every one. Each number Soma shows, in the pod or in the app, comes with its margin of error. Beside it, Soma says whether the science behind that number is well established or still being tested, so you know how much weight to give it. After a Soma Axon visit, everything beyond the one number the pod shows you waits in the Soma app, explained in plain words with the margin for each value. Soma isn't a medical device. The pod is still a prototype, and there's a waitlist.
What does Soma do when a sensor can't get a clean reading?
It leaves that spot empty. If something wasn't measured, or a sensor in Soma Axon couldn't get a clean reading, the space for that value stays blank. You won't see a zero or a best guess in its place. Scores follow the same logic, summing up only what was measured and what you reported. Soma is a general wellness product, and Soma Axon isn't available yet, though there's a waitlist.
Why does Soma Axon keep its lighting and camera angles the same at every visit?
So that a moving number points to you. Soma Axon is designed as a closed cabin where the pod, its lighting and its camera angles don't change between visits, which leaves you as what changes from week to week. Soma says that with the light the same at every visit, a number that moves does so because something changed in you. It isn't a medical device. The first prototype is still being built, so the pod can't be visited yet, though there's a waitlist.
What does "well established or still being tested" mean in the Soma app?
It's a label about the science behind each number. Next to every value, Soma says whether that science is well established or still being tested, so you can decide how much weight to give it, alongside the margin of error the value already carries. The label applies in the Soma Axon pod and in the Soma app alike. Soma frames all of it as general wellness. Both are still being built, and people on the waitlist hear first when they're ready.
How does the Soma app show what moved a score?
Tap the score. The Soma app then lays out what moved it, with each measure set against your own usual range. A score only ever sums up what was measured and what you told Soma, like how you slept or whether you trained. In Mind, that means seeing which of your HRV, resting heart rate and breathing shifted, next to the day's stress peaks and last night's sleep. The app is for general wellness and isn't medical care. It isn't available to the public yet, and there's a waitlist.
How many visits does Soma need before it knows my usual range?
A handful, by Soma's account. After that many visits to Soma Axon, Soma expects to have a baseline built from your own readings. From then on, a slow change, like a resting pulse creeping up over a month of short nights, should show up as a trend you can see. Every measure behind a score is also shown against your own usual range. Soma calls itself a general wellness product. The pod is still being built, and there's a waitlist for the first one.
From The same instrument, every week, Home, FAQ and Waitlist.
Can Soma's numbers be wrong?
Yes, and Soma says so in its Terms of Use. Its estimates come from wellness signals rather than clinical tests, and they can be wrong. Every number Soma shows, a biological age estimate included, is an estimate shown together with its uncertainty. Each value also carries its margin of error. Soma is a general wellness product, and it isn't available yet, with a waitlist for the first pod.
From Terms of Use, Home, FAQ and Compare.
Do Soma's results depend on my phone?
Yes, in part. Soma's Terms say the results it computes depend on your phone's sensors, on Apple Health and on any service you connect, none of which Soma controls. Between visits, the Soma app fills in the days with what your phone and watch record, while Soma Axon does the full read once a week. Soma's results are general wellness readings. Neither the pod nor the app is open yet, and a waitlist hears first.
From Terms of Use, Home and FAQ.
What labels come with a figure that Soma computes?
Soma attaches three labels to every figure it computes: its date, the amount of data behind it and the version of the engine that produced it. The same goes for the derived facts its server-side engines return after history sync, like a biological age estimate or a long-term trend. Separately, every number Soma shows carries its margin of error. Soma isn't cleared or approved by the FDA. The Soma app isn't ready for the public yet, and Soma keeps a waitlist.
From Terms of Use, Privacy Policy, Home and FAQ.
How does Soma tell a change in me from a change in its equipment?
By keeping the equipment the same. The sameness of Soma Axon is deliberate: if your resting pulse is higher than last week, Soma wants to be able to say the change came from you and rule out the room or the equipment. The light and the cameras will be the same every time, and you'll stand in the same spot with your hands on the same two grips. Soma Axon is a general wellness product. It isn't available yet, and the waitlist hears first when it opens.
From The same instrument, every week, FAQ and Compare.
What does Soma Labs mean by being honest about what a number can't tell you?
It comes from Soma's mission. The company took the old maxim know thyself as its own, and it says knowing yourself also means being honest about what a number can't tell you. In practice, every figure Soma shows will come with how sure Soma is of it, and each number carries its margin of error. Soma isn't medical care: it's a general wellness product. Soma Labs, the Palo Alto company building Soma Axon, hasn't opened the pod yet but keeps a waitlist.
From Know thyself, Home, About and FAQ.
Smart scale every morning or Soma Axon once a week: which suits body composition tracking?
They fit different routines. A smart scale's strength, as Soma's blog puts it, is that it lives at home, where you can step on it every morning in 30 seconds. Soma Axon will read body composition the same basic way, with a very small electrical current. It also adds skin photos, balance, grip strength, EEG and thermal imaging. In return for the weekly trip, it reads you under the same light, from the same positions and with the same instrument every week. It's a general wellness product, still being built, with a waitlist.
How can I tell whether my body composition is actually changing?
It takes the same measurement, taken the same way, every week. Soma Axon will read body composition with a very small electrical current while you stand on its plate, and its pod, lighting and camera angles don't change between visits. One reading on its own says little, while a weekly run shows what's changing and how fast. Every value also comes with its margin of error. It's general wellness, and Soma isn't a medical device. It's still a prototype, with a waitlist for the first opening.
What's the difference between a margin of error and a range?
They describe the same thing from two sides. In Soma's draft developer docs, margin is the plus or minus around each value, and apps are meant to show the range next to the number. So a reading with a margin gives you a band around the value to go with the value itself. Soma's own app gives every number its margin of error. All of this sits within general wellness. Soma Labs, the Palo Alto company building both, hasn't opened either one yet but keeps a waitlist.
From Developers, Home, FAQ and About.
Is a blank in my wellness data a problem?
At Soma, a blank means something specific: that value wasn't measured, or a sensor couldn't get a clean reading. Soma leaves the spot empty instead of putting a zero or a best guess there, and its scores only sum up what was measured and what you reported, so a blank doesn't turn into a made-up input. Soma is built for general wellness and isn't a medical device. The app and the Soma Axon pod aren't available yet, and there's a waitlist.
How can I tell a bad week from a real trend?
Soma's answer is to look at the run of weeks, since one reading on its own doesn't tell you much. Readings taken the same way every week show what's changing and how fast, and Soma Axon keeps its pod, lighting and camera angles fixed so the setup doesn't add noise. A slow change, like a resting pulse creeping up over a month of short nights, should show up as a trend. Soma keeps to general wellness and isn't cleared or approved by the FDA. You can't try it yet, but you can join the waitlist.
From FAQ, The same instrument, every week, Home and Compare.
Is once a week often enough to see changes in my body?
Soma thinks so, as long as each reading is taken the same way. One reading on its own doesn't tell you much, but weekly readings show what's changing and how fast, and a year of them comes to 52 whole-body reads. Soma's example is losing muscle over a winter of training less, which it expects to show up as a trend. All of this sits within general wellness. Soma Axon isn't available yet, and there's a waitlist.
From FAQ, Full-body scans compared, Blog and Compare.
Who else can see my body scan numbers?
Soma limits that on several fronts. A venue hosting Soma Axon sees how often the pod gets used and never anyone's results, and an employer that pays for a pod never sees results either. Soma staff never see the photos of your skin, only an outline of your body. What you see on Today, in the Soma app, isn't sent to Soma at all. Soma is built for general wellness and isn't a medical device. The pod and app aren't available yet, and there's a waitlist.
From For organizations, FAQ and Privacy Policy.
Does Soma boil everything down to one health score?
Not quite. The pod shows one calm number on your way out, but the Soma app spreads things out: Today sums up the day in three scores and one next move, Mind gives one score for your nervous system and Body turns weekly visits into a handful of facts. Every score shows what moved it. Soma describes itself as a general wellness product. The app and Soma Axon aren't available yet, and there's a waitlist.
Does Soma need history sync to show my numbers?
Not for the daily view. Today runs on your phone without an account and works offline. History sync is optional, needs an account and, once on, lets Soma's server-side engines work out a small number of derived facts from your record, like a biological age estimate and long-term trends. Soma's Terms call it a general wellness product. Soma Labs, the Palo Alto company behind the app, hasn't released it yet but keeps a waitlist.
From Terms of Use, Privacy Policy, FAQ and About.