Luffu targets collective health and wellbeing across families by tracking changes to normal ‘rhythms’ over time.
With the longevity conversation increasingly dominated by discussion of biomarkers, diagnostics and clinical interventions, one of the areas often forgotten in all the hubbub is the importance of relationships – particularly those within families. Research suggests that close, supportive family bonds are physiologically protective in ways that can be as consequential for life expectancy as quitting smoking or maintaining a healthy weight.
It is against this backdrop that Fitbit co-founders James Park and Eric Friedman have launched their latest venture: Luffu, an app built on the premise that wellbeing is fundamentally shared. After helping millions of people track their steps, sleep, and heart rate, the pair have switched focus to monitoring health at the family level.
“At Fitbit, we focused on personal health – but after Fitbit, health for me became bigger than just thinking about myself,” said Park. “Luffu is the product we wished existed – to stay on top of our family’s health, know what changed and when to step in – without hovering.”
Described as an “intelligent family care system,” Luffu, is designed to gather disparate pieces of information into a shared view of family health. According to its founders, the app aims to make it easier to capture what is already happening in everyday life: a late-night fever, a missed dose of medication, a change in eating habits, a doctor’s visit, a shift in activity patterns. Combining voice, text, photos and integrations with devices and medical portals, the system aims to build a picture of each family member’s rhythms over time – and monitor for changes that could be an indication of decline.
“In our house, health isn’t a single person’s project – it’s shared, and I’ve felt how easy it is for my own health to fall to the bottom of the list,” said Friedman. “We designed Luffu to capture the details as life happens, keep family members updated and surface what matters at the right time – so caregiving feels more coordinated and less chaotic.”
Currently building a waitlist for its public beta, Luffu plans to start with its app-based approach before expanding, Fitbit-esque, into a hardware ecosystem, developing what the company describes as “thoughtful and human-focused products that keep families healthy, safe and connected.”
Photographs courtesy of Luffu.
