Higi

**Higi** (pronounced *H IH G-iy*; stylized in all lowercase) is a free mobile health and wellness app. It was created by Michael Ferro and first launched at the annual conference and music festival, South by Southwest, in 2013. The app is on iOS and Google Play, designed primarily for iPhones, and is available as a health kiosk in selected retailers. In January 2022, Higi was acquired by Babylon Health.

American rapper Lupe Fiasco was named as an investor and creative director in 2013. Michael Ferro said in a press statement, "No one captures the energy and purpose of the higi Score like Lupe does. His voice and creative input will make the challenge, the engagement and the endeavor of living a better life accessible and frankly more fun for all. With the higi Score, ultimately, everyone wins."

## Description

Knowing your numbers is the first step to understanding your health

Higi helps you track your health numbers so you can be a healthier you. Plus, we make it easy to share your information with trusted healthcare providers. Join the millions of people already tracking their health on Higi.

Measure what matters

Track blood pressure, pulse, weight, and BMI at 10,000 Higi stations nationwide.

Higi is integrated with the Apple HealthKit and will be able to sync data in the future.

## Background

Fiasco explained, "It's basically a score. And it's a score based off of three different things. It's based off of your body initially. Your weight, your blood pressure, your height, all your biometrics, your pulse, your body mass index. Then it takes into account your lifestyle. How active you are, how much you work out, etc. It takes advantage of things like the information that you get from the Nike fit bands, all those things that you work out with. Measure it. It kind of takes that information as well. Then it takes into consideration how active you are on social media. So Facebook, Twitter... It takes all those three things together and it calculates this score. So Higi is an algorithm basically at the end of the day."

The app weighs a total score out of 999, within a range of 400-900. Fiasco added, "Once you get into the nine's, the highest you can get is 999, once you get into the nine's you get inducted into something called the Nine-Hundred Club. It opens you up to all these different awards. It's like a social credit score, but that you control. That you control on a daily basis." One of the features includes calculation of caloric content in food, and encourages exercise.

In an interview with *Billboard*, Fiasco informed, "It shows you how weight and wellness aren't the same thing. You can be super fit and super depressed because you're not interacting with your social network. You could work out and work out, but that doesn't really translate to how happy you are in life. You could be at home super happy, super comfortable, just logging in to your computer all day, but your body is paying for it." He added that it became a new full-time job for him.

## Reception

The iOS App Store gave it a 4.4 out of 5, while Google Play held the score of 4.2 out of 5.

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Harling, Danielle (March 11, 2013). "Lupe Fiasco Introduces New Health & Wellness App Called Higi". *HipHopDX*.
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Hampp, Andrew (March 10, 2013). "Lupe Fiasco Talks Creative Director Role at Higi, His New Health and Wellness App, During SXSW". *Billboard*.