SmartMio fitness wearable jolts the body with electricity

This week the folks behind SmartMio are aiming to bring some extra in-depth fitness tracking to the public. They'll be doing this with EMS, or Electrical Muscle Stimulation, also known as Neuromuscular Electrical Stimulation or NEMS. In practice, this means that the SmartMio device won't just be on your person, it'll be attached to your body, sending nerve impulses "to engage your muscles during a workout."

With Electrical Muscle Stimulation, you certainly won't be falling asleep on the job. According to SmartMio, you'll be training muscle groups in complete isolation, "not always achievable through regular training."

The main device is simple – it's about the size of a slice of chicken egg, working with Bluetooth inside and a 170mAh battery, "enough to cover an average weekly stimulation plan on a full charge." The center of this device is a multi-function button, and the whole thing is covered in silicon.

• 2 Independent Stimulation Channels

• Bi-phasic trapezoid waveform (based on regular voltage technology)

• Peak voltage of 110V provided in small <1V increments (under 1k Ohm load)

• FCC-approved Bluetooth 4.0 Low Energy module

• Supports Android 4.3+/iOS 7.0+ mobile devices

This system works by connection via Bluetooth to your iOS or Android device. You'll have a number of different programs inside the SmartMio app, all ready for Android or the iPhone – or the iPad, if you carry that around, too.

To give you the zap into action, you'll be working with "custom FDA-cleared bio-compatible self-adhesive electrodes." These self-sticking electrode pads will deliver electrical impulses to the areas of your body you're working on.

At the moment, this device is estimated to cost $149 USD. For a couple of SmartMio devices, (called SmartMio Duo), you'll be paying $289 USD, and it'll all be available soon – just so long as the group's Indegogo campaign is funded, that is.

NOTE: as far as we can tell, SmartMio has nothing to do with the MiO water drink – two separate brands, nothing to do with one-another save the very, very similar names.