Rythmo home

A rate counter the size of a car key

A key fob sized tap-per-breath counter I'm designing and testing.

In development. Not for sale.

These are concept renders, not photographs. Nothing has been built yet and the finished thing will differ.

Concept render of the orange Rythmo device held in a gloved hand in the back of an ambulance, thumb on the button, showing 18 per minuteConcept render
About 50 by 24 millimetres and 13 thick. If it ends up bigger than this, it is just a worse phone.
Concept render of the orange device lying beside a stethoscope chestpiece on a pale surfaceConcept render
Next to a stethoscope, for scale.
Concept render of three orange devices showing the screen states Ready, Settling and Confident, with a three block bar that fills as the taps settleConcept render
The screen shows how settled the rate is: a three block bar that fills as the taps steady.
Concept render of the orange device hanging from a black lanyard over navy scrubs in a hospital corridorConcept render
On a lanyard, at chest height.
Concept render of the orange device on a small carabiner at the belt loop of navy work trousers, beside a car key, with a gloved hand reaching for itConcept render
On a keyring or a small carabiner, where a hand can find it without looking.
Concept render of the device in orange, yellow, teal, navy and charcoal, lined up beside a car keyConcept render
High visibility colours, because a dark device on a dark floor is hard to find again.
Concept render of a gloved hand holding the orange device at a hospital bedside, thumb on the buttonConcept render
At the bedside, eyes on the patient and a thumb on the button.
Concept render of the orange device on a clipboard with a pen and a stethoscope on an ambulance stretcher at nightConcept render
In the back of the truck, next to the paperwork.

The design direction

This is a direction, not a specification. What gets built depends on what comes back from people who would carry one.

  • SizeAiming for about 50 by 24 by 13 millimetres.
  • ScreenTesting a reflective three digit screen in bright light.
  • ButtonOne physical button, to be tested with gloves on and wet hands.
  • PowerA replaceable coin cell, so no charging port.
  • ColourTesting high visibility options.
  • AttachmentA keyring eyelet for a lanyard or a small carabiner.

Why a device and not just an app

A free phone app can already do this. I know, because I built one, and for most people most of the time it is the right answer.

Rythmo exists for the rest of the time. Gloves on, and a phone you do not want to touch. Infection control. A ward where personal phones stay in the locker, or a patient who sees a phone in your hand and thinks you are checking your messages. A phone is also a two-handed device with a lock screen, which is a problem in the back of a moving truck or when you are kneeling on a kitchen floor with the monitor in your other hand. In those settings the phone in your pocket may as well not be there.

That is the whole bet, and it is one I would rather test than assume. The device is in development now, and what actually gets built depends on what comes back from people who would carry one.

Hear how testing goes

One email when there's testing news or a prototype to help test in training or simulation. Nothing else, and no list sharing.

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