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This Wearable Wristband Tells You When You’re Dehydrated

The LVL band measures key biometrics in your bloodstream with infrared light, information that is then fed back into the wristband and triggers vibrations when hydration becomes necessary.
Photo via Flickr user waferboard

Some say you need eight glasses a day of water, while others say you need zero. Some drink their water, while others bread it and deep-fry it in the name of scientific discovery.

But no matter how you get those two hydrogen atoms and one oxygen atom into your body, it's the basis for life on Earth, and being dehydrated sucks. Just ask anyone who's hungover about the value of water and odds are they will tell you how they regret literally pissing it away.

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Luckily, technology is catching up with the human tendency to not hydrate adequately. And no one is more aware of our need for water than Dr. Dustin Freckleton, creator of the LVL fitness band. While in med school, Freckleton suffered a "severe hydration-related stroke" that led to three months of rehabilitation to learn how to walk again.

READ MORE: A Dude Figured Out How to Deep-Fry Water and Now Humanity Is Doomed

This nightmarish reminder of the human body's need for water is also what inspired him to create the LVL fitness band, which uses infrared light to keep tabs on hydration levels and calculates how much you'll need to stay alive and well and not have strokes.

"When we express that we not only measure hydration, but the problems it solves, like around sleep and exercise, there's an 'a-ha' moment for people when they say 'Oh my gosh, that's what I need,'" Freckleton told Business Insider.

The LVL band, developed by BSX Technologies, measures key biometrics in your bloodstream with infrared light, information that is then fed back into the wristband, triggering vibrations when hydration becomes necessary. Then, using a smartphone app, LVL can remind users to drink water and tell them what their dehydration levels are.

Freckleton says that the band will even adjust to users' unique body patterns and give them passive-aggressive reminders of why hydration rules. "Before a person goes to bed, let's say the middle of the afternoon the previous day," he explained, "we can say, 'Hey, you're about 19 ounces low right now. You're gonna sleep 23 percent better tonight and feel better in the morning if you drink that now.'"

While needing a wristband and an app to remind you to drink water might seem like a little much, the reality is that most Americans do not drink enough water. Plus, LVL has already nearly doubled its Kickstarter funding goal, so there is clearly a thirst for adequate hydration.

Dr. Freckleton, if you're reading this, we at MUNCHIES volunteer to test the efficacy of your invention during a night of hard drinking.