The people at Fitbit are back with a very different kind of wearable. Co-founders James Park and Eric Friedman have launched Luffu, a new startup built for keeping tabs on family members without making them feel like they’re being watched.
Its first device, the Luffu Link, is a screen-free wrist wearable designed with aging parents, family caregivers, and independent older adults in mind. Instead of putting another tiny screen on your wrist, Luffu wants the device to collect health and location data, then let AI figure out what actually matters.
This isn’t another smartwatch without the screen
The Link is designed to disappear into everyday life. There are no notifications demanding your attention, no tiny graphs to squint at and no screen encouraging you to check your heart rate for the 47th time today.
Instead, the device continuously tracks things such as activity, sleep, resting heart rate, heart rate variability and breathing rate. It also has GPS and LTE, meaning it can share location and send messages to trusted contacts even when the wearer doesn’t have a phone nearby.
That last part is particularly useful for older adults who may not want to carry a smartphone everywhere. A quick double press can check in with family, while the main button can be used to record a voice message.
So, for example, someone could press it and say, “I fell and hurt my wrist. Can someone come get me?” Luffu can then send that message along with the person’s location, battery level, and relevant health information to their trusted contacts.
The AI is supposed to do the annoying part
Luffu’s bigger idea isn’t really the wearable but what happens to all the information afterward. The company’s app uses AI to organize health and family information, recognize patterns, and flag changes that might deserve attention.
Maybe someone’s activity has suddenly dropped, their sleep has changed, or the change happened after they started taking a new medication. Instead of dumping all that information into another giant health dashboard, Luffu wants the system to provide information on what changed, if and how it matters, and other necessary details.
Because everyone is a family CEO now
Park says the idea came from his own experience. His parents live in Cleveland while he lives in San Francisco, leaving him to coordinate their care from a distance. He says he would sometimes only discover that something was wrong after a major doctor’s appointment, when he was getting only part of the story.
Friedman faced a similar challenge while caring for his children. That’s the market Luffu is chasing: people who have somehow become the unofficial CEO of their family. The company says more than one in four American adults acts as a caregiver, whether they are looking after aging parents or children with chronic health needs.
The problem is that the technology available to them is scattered everywhere. There are emergency pendants, fitness trackers, location-sharing apps, family calendars, smart-home devices and medical records. Luffu’s pitch is essentially: what if one system connected all of that?
It costs $250, for now
The Luffu Link is currently available for preorder for $250, discounted from its planned $300 retail price. It comes in three colors: Halo Gold, Onyx Black and Sterling Blue.
The device is expected to ship in early 2027. There is also a $19-per-month subscription, which includes access for up to four family members. The Luffu app is expected to launch broadly in the U.S. later in 2026. The Link gets up to five days of battery life, and its LTE connection is included, so users don’t need to add another cellular plan.
Luffu wants to put another device in your home
The Link is apparently just the beginning. Luffu is reportedly working on a dedicated home device that could extend the same family-care system beyond the wrist and potentially work across multiple households.
The idea is to create an ecosystem that can quietly collect information and help families stay connected without requiring someone to constantly check an app. It’s a pretty ambitious vision, and time will tell how far the company will go in achieving it.
Sources: Bloomberg, TechCrunch, The Mercury News