Citizen's CZ smartwatch uses NASA tech to predict when you need a nap

 When you mention Citizen to a watch fan the first model that will come to mind is probably the ruggedtPromaster Diver range or the insanely accurate Caliber 0100, but did you know the watch make also has a range of smartwatches?

The latest addition to the range, a new model of the CZ Smart, has just been launched at CES 2023. 

The new wearable provides a built-in self-care advisor through the proprietary CZ Smart YouQ application, developed using research pioneered by NASA’s Ames Research Center and AI built through Citizen partnerships using the environment and tools within IBM Watson Studio on IBM Cloud. 

Think of it like Siri for your health.

How exactly does it work? The CZ Smart YouQ software helps you understand and anticipate patterns of fatigue and alertness and offers customised insights and personalised strategies to build better habits to maximise your daily potential. 

This sounds like a potentially game-changing development, as usually smartwatches will provide you with metrics and insights, but leave it up to the wearer to interpret the data.

It uses neural networks developed within the IBM Watson Studio workspace to learn and understand the wearer’s chronotype (an individual’s preferred timing of sleep and wake) within seven to ten days by processing their sleep data and Alert Scores and deepening that understanding over time. 

Alert Scores are generated when a wearer takes a custom-designed Alert Monitor test, a consumer-facing iteration of NASA’s Psychomotor Vigilance Task Test (PVT+), originally developed to determine the mental acuity of astronauts. These Alert Monitor tests are brief, gamified, and can be taken daily to measure the wearer’s alertness.

Once the CZ Smart YouQ app has learnt your habits, it will start to recommend highly personalised 'Power Fixes' which are suggested actions to help you mitigate the effects of fatigue, improve alertness, and promote the building of better habits, readying you to meet whatever the day may bring.

Over time, the watch will even begin to learn the effectiveness of certain Power Fixes for each person.

The latest generation of CZ Smart watches with the proprietary CZ Smart YouQ application will be available in the UK from Citizen's website starting in March 2023.