It’s got a few key functions covered

In the Star Trek universe, a tricorder is a handheld miracle capable of scanning and analyzing just about anything (that the writers need it to). It can detect leaks in the plasma plumbing one minute, analyze a cave for load-bearing walls the next. But the most compelling and useful to real life would be the medical tricorder.

A medical tricorder, in Star Trek terms, is a portable diagnostics lab in a package the size of a bulky old flip phone. Anything from blood pressure causing a headache to alien parasites gnawing on your DNA strands, the tricorder can give a doctor a quick picture of what’s wrong with you.

The only problem? Totally fictional.

It would be great if doctors could figure out what was wrong with you by waving a little device up and down you and reading a little screen. Well… what if you could wave a little device around yourself and find… some important stuff, if not everything.

Several key components of determining a human’s health are body temperature, heartbeat, and lung function.

The Withings Beam-O aims to bridge the gap to a “true” tricorder by providing the elements of a touchless thermometer, ECG, and stethoscope into one little handheld device. Software takes care of the “am I healthy” aspect. It’s not going to prescribe any solutions, but it can give you some hint that you’re either OK or need to look into some next-level medical care.

Now, this also isn’t medical advice, so take it with a grain of salt. You don’t have alien parasites gnawing on your DNA.

Appreciate the tricorder we have. After all, it’s real.

P.S.: The alien parasites thing is real; it’s just a problem for the psychiatric profession, not DIY diagnostic tech.