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Syzygy

It’s a tiny smart module that magnetically attaches to the back of your favorite traditional watch. It tracks your heart rate, sleep, activity, and more, all synced to your phone via an app.

  • A rendered view of Syzygy integrated with a traditional watch, shown from both the front and back.

  • Syzygy video demo showcasing a concept of hardware and companion apps in cosmic alignment.

    Syzygy video demo showcasing a concept of hardware and companion apps in cosmic alignment.

  • 3D render of the Syzygy module front view, detailed view of Syzygy’s magnetic attachment surface.

  • 3D render of the Syzygy module rear view, A detailed look at Syzygy’s biometric sensor array.

  • Placement reference

  • System overview

What it does

Smartwatches feel like the same gadget repackaged every year: disposable, overpriced, and lifeless. Classic watches are the opposite: timeless, personal, and built to last, but totally dumb. That’s where Syzygy comes in.

Your inspiration

The idea for Syzygy was born out of a simple, almost funny situation. A close friend of mine wore a Whoop on one wrist and a traditional watch on the other. People kept asking him, “Why are you wearing two watches?” and every time, he’d have to explain that one of them isn’t a watch. I wanted to create something to keep what’s already on your wrist and just quietly add tech behind it. The name Syzygy comes from astronomy: the rare alignment of celestial bodies like the Sun, Earth, and Moon. Here, it represents the perfect alignment between your body, your watch, and technology or, if you prefer, between well-being, elegance, and innovation.

How it works

Syzygy works by attaching magnetically to the back of your existing watch, where it quietly sits between your wrist and the caseback. Inside its compact metal shell is a full stack of health and activity tracking hardware. At the core is the MAX30102 optical sensor, precisely centered to get accurate readings of your heart rate and blood oxygen levels. Alongside that is a 6-axis MPU-6050 accelerometer/gyroscope for movement and sleep tracking, a vibration motor for haptic alerts, and a Bluetooth-enabled nRF52840 microcontroller that communicates with your phone. You interact with it solely through the companion IOS and Android apps (developed with Flutter), no screen, no buttons, no hassle. You just wear your watch like normal, and it collects your health data in the background.

Design process

The development began with the construction of functional prototypes using off-the-shelf modules and a breadboard setup. The core components: MAX30102 optical sensor, MPU-6050 accelerometer/gyroscope, and nRF52840 microcontroller were connected via I²C and powered via USB to allow rapid iteration and firmware testing. The initial firmware was developed in C using the Arduino framework to validate sensor data acquisition and BLE communication quickly. The focus was on verifying accurate heart rate and motion tracking in a compact configuration. From there, attention shifted to optimizing sensor positioning, especially making sure the MAX30102's optical window was flush against the skin and centered under the watch for reliable readings. Each test helped refine how to best lay out components in a minimal footprint. Power profiling was also done to estimate battery requirements and plan future integration of charging hardware.

How it is different

Syzygy isn’t just a fitness tracker without a screen; it’s a wearable designed to completely disappear. Unlike smartwatches or wristbands that demand attention and clash with your style, Syzygy integrates invisibly with the watch you already love. It doesn’t replace your watch or ask you to choose, just upgrades it. No other product offers this specific modular form factor, magnetically attachable and sensor-optimized for use under a real mechanical or analog watch. The elegance is in the restraint: no display, no distractions, and zero changes to your daily behavior. It works in the background, giving you the data you care about without any of the gadget baggage.

Future plans

The next phase involves miniaturizing the setup into a custom PCB designed to fit inside a sleek enclosure. Important that the optical sensor is located centrally, the two batteries on the same level where there is space. On the software side, the plan is to develop a cross-platform app using Flutter to handle Bluetooth sync, visualize metrics like heart rate, sleep, and step count, sport activities, OTA firmware updates, AI-based health insights, Apple Health or Google Fit integrations, and allow users to track trends over time.

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