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Real-Time Health Monitoring is the Purpose of Wearable Computers

Posted on March 18, 2019 by admin Posted in Hardware, Medical, User Interface Leave a comment

What it is: The “killer” app for the Apple Watch is real-time health monitoring.

When the Apple Watch first appeared, critics dismissed it as a gimmick. That’s because even Apple couldn’t define a specific use for the Apple Watch at first.

The whole purpose of technology is to solve a problem that was too difficult or impossible to solve previously. The PC made computers accessible to more people beyond the mainframe and minicomputer users. What made the PC useful was the spreadsheet, first embodied by VisiCalc and then by Lotus 1-2-3. People bought PCs specifically to use spreadsheets.

When the iPhone first came out, it represented a giant improvement over existing mobile phones, but also gave you a computer in your pocket. Combined with mobile location tracking, the iPhone defined how smartphones work, which eventually led to location tracking services like ride-sharing services.

The Apple Watch first appeared with no specific purpose in mind, but the latest Stanford study indicates that the Apple Watch does a decent job detecting heart abnormalities. To detect this usually requires expensive equipment at a doctor’s office, but the Apple Watch is bringing this capability to the masses. That makes real-time health monitoring the real killer app for wearable computers.

If you’re concerned about your health, then the Apple Watch is for you. For people who still refuse to buy and use a wearable computer like the Apple Watch, they’re essentially telling the world that they either can’t afford a wearable computer or they don’t think their life is worth a few hundred dollars.

The next step for wearable computers will be health enhancement. That can come with smart glasses that enhance a user’s vision while also tracking health conditions at the same time. Real-time health monitoring and enhancement is the ultimate goal of wearable computers.

Apple Watch Detects Man’s Fall

Posted on February 4, 2019 by admin Posted in Hardware, Medical, User Interface Leave a comment

What it is: An Apple Watch detected a man’s fall and called for help.

67-year-old Toralv Ostvang fell in the bathroom, fracturing his face in three places. Fortunately, Toralv was wearing an Apple Watch that detected his fall and automatically called for help when it detected Toralv was not moving after the fall.

Emergency crews responded to the Watch’s alert beacon and said he would likely not have survived the night if he hadn’t received immediate help. That means the Apple Watch helped save one man’s life and its automatic fall detection feature will likely save many more lives in years to come.

Because of its fall detection feature and other health-related options, the Apple Watch is ideally suited for senior citizens. By providing help when the wearer is unable to do so, the Apple Watch can save lives.

While the Apple Watch is ideal for senior citizens, it can also be used for younger people to track their physical activity and urge them to stay active during the day. Sitting in one place is extremely harmful to one’s health so younger people can use the Apple Watch to monitor their physical movements.

The Apple Watch’s main purpose is simply real-time health monitoring, which can literally save lives. As the Apple Watch gains more features such as non-invasive glucose monitoring, it will continue offering health benefits that were too expensive or impractical to track with current technology.

The Apple Watch is a huge success simply because it has a clear purpose to monitor health. What Apple needs to do with their other products is define an equally important purpose.

Anyone know what’s the one compelling reason to use HomePod? HomePod offers hands-free computing, but beyond that, what purpose does it serve to solve a problem that other products can’t do as well? The lack of a clear answer is the reason why HomePod isn’t as popular or profitable while the Apple Watch continues growing in popularity and importance.

If you don’t have an Apple Watch yet, get one or something similar to track your health. A wearable computer like the Apple Watch could one day save your life.

To learn more about how an Apple Watch saved one man’s life, click here.

Apple’s Future is Health

Posted on January 17, 2019 by admin Posted in Hardware, Medical Leave a comment

What it is: Apple’s hiring of health related talent has increased 400% since 2017.

At one time, Apple relied on the Macintosh computer for all its revenue, but the world had already standardized on Windows so Apple had little room for growth focusing on personal computers.

Then Apple introduced the iPod and iTunes, and suddenly portable music players and music downloads gave Apple a huge boost in revenue while helping it rely less on the Macintosh.

When smartphones threatened to kill the iPod market, Apple reduced their dependence on the iPod by releasing the iPhone. The iPhone proved so popular that it defined the current smartphone market.

However, the smartphone market is slowing down. People aren’t upgrading their smartphones as often because each new model offers minor improvements over the current models. That means people are holding on to their smartphones longer, which means slowing smartphone sales.

Not only is Apple reducing their future revenue guidance due to slowing iPhone sales, but Samsung is also forecasting a downturn in smartphone sales as well. The problem isn’t just Apple but the overall smartphone market.

That’s why Apple has been diversifying recently with services such as Apple Music, Apple Books, and Apple Pay. the idea is to reduce dependence on hardware and make money whether people are using older products or not.

With iPhone sales slowing and showing no signs of suddenly picking up ever again, Apple needs a new market to target and that new market will likely be health, led by wearable computers such as the Apple Watch.

Like the iPhone, the Apple Watch has gone through major improvements with each generation although there’s little reason to upgrade each year with the Apple Watch.

However what will keep people pinned to the Apple Watch will be its improving health sensors. Since everyone (especially older people) are concerned about their health, it’s easy to see how wearable computers such as the Apple Watch and future Apple smart glasses product can use health as their primary focus, targeting the world’s aging population.

Far more people care about their health than care about using the latest smartphone. For that reason, health will be Apple’s new focus. Unlike smartphones, health-related products take more time to develop, which means it will be harder to take off-the-shelf components and slap them together to mimic an Apple Watch.

The iPhone is fine, but it will no longer be the primary driving force of Apple any more just like Apple no longer depends on the iPod or the Macintosh for the bulk of its revenue.

Health is the new focus because everyone is a potential customer, even people who don’t like Apple. Such people will have to decide if their health is more important than their irrational dislike of Apple because their lives literally depend on their decision.

Apple Watch Users 34 Percent More Active

Posted on November 29, 2018 by admin Posted in Business, Hardware, Medical Leave a comment

What it is: Participants in the John Hancock Vitality program who were given Apple Watches for $25 showed greater physical activity compared to users without one.

There’s an old saying that what gets measured gets improved upon. In other words, if you track a certain activity, you know exactly where you stand at any given time so you know what you need to do to reach your goals. In the dieting world, tracking your calorie intake insures you don’t consume more calories than you should. Without measuring your activity, it’s too easy to lose track of your goals.

The RAND Corporation tracked 400,000 people across the US, Europe and South Africa and found that incentives including subsidized Apple Watches significantly improved people’s activity. In the research conducted for financial and life insurance firm John Hancock, participants with a watch on average increased their number of active days by 31 percent on the company’s Vitality program.

In other words, people tracking their physical activity tend to do it more often than people who do not track their physical activity. The Apple Watch and other wearable computers simply makes it easy for anyone to measure their physical activity daily. When you can see you’re not reaching your physical activity goals, you’ll have the incentive to increase your activity to meet those goals.

The Apple Watch’s primary purpose is real-time health monitoring. Anyone interested in maintaining their health is a candidate for the Apple Watch, which is practically everyone. As more insurance companies learn the advantages of the Apple Watch, it will be to their benefit to subsidize the cost of Apple Watches to increase the health of their customers. The healthier people remain, the less likely they’ll need health insurance, which simply makes the insurance companies more money by not paying out massive benefits.

The insurance companies are giving away Apple Watches out of the goodness of their heart but because it’s a sound business decision that actually benefits everyone (not just the insurance company). By staying healthy with an Apple Watch, people can live longer, more enjoyable lives. By not needing health insurance, insurance companies can keep more of the premiums for themselves.

The Apple Watch is going to be far more important than the iPhone in the near future because not everyone needs or wants an iPhone, but everyone will need or want to stay healthy. Of course, with more people using the Apple Watch, more people will have an incentive to use other Apple products like the iPhone or Macintosh.

Wearable computers like the Apple Watch are the future of Apple. Just like the iPod gradually faded in importance over time, so will the iPhone gradually fade in importance compared to the Apple Watch. When Apple releases smart glasses, that’s when the real revolution in wearable computers will take off.

United Healthcare Offering Free Apple Watch

Posted on November 15, 2018 by admin Posted in Hardware, Medical Leave a comment

What it is: United Healthcare is offering the series 3 Apple Watch for free.

Insurance companies are in business to make money so if they can minimize payments, they’ll make more money. That’s why health insurance companies like United Healthcare are looking at wearable devices such as the Apple Watch to help reduce costs. The idea is that United Healthcare will give you an Apple Watch series 3 absolutely free. The only catch is that you must meet regular physical activity goals.

The program’s walking goals are centered around frequency (walking 500 steps within seven minutes six times per day, at least an hour apart), intensity (3,000 steps within 30 minutes) and tenacity (10,000 total steps each day). If participants meet these daily goals, they can own the watch in six months.

United Healthcare is betting that people excited to get a free Apple Watch will be more motivated to stay active and healthy. The more healthy people United Healthcare has, the less likely they’ll fall sick and need payment from the insurance company. So companies like United Healthcare aren’t offering the Apple Watch solely out of the goodness of their heart but because it’s a pragmatic business decision.

Patients benefit because they stay healthy and get a free Apple Watch. The insurance company benefits because they pay less out and keep more of the premiums for themselves, so everybody wins. Expect more health insurance companies to start offering similar programs, giving away free wearable devices in return for meeting specific exercise and activity goals. If you can get a free Apple Watch just by improving your health, why wouldn’t you sign up with United Healthcare instead of another company that does not offer a similar program?

The main purpose of wearable computers like the Apple Watch is real-time health monitoring so anything that can improve your health will simply benefit everyone. If you want to stay healthy, using the Apple Watch (whether for free or not) will simply improve the quality of your life, and that’s something no amount of money can replace.

Apple Intern Turns to Medicine

Posted on October 26, 2018 by admin Posted in Hardware, Medical, Software Leave a comment

What it is: An Apple intern used his Apple Watch to monitor the pulse of an unconscious woman.

While on a flight from Arizona to Washington D.C., Brian Shear, an intern at Apple, helped a physician monitor an unconscious woman on the plane. Using his Apple Watch, Brian Shear captured the woman’s pulse information and then gave that information to doctors so they could use that information to help her. That’s when Brian Shear decided instead of working for a company making lifesaving equipment, he wanted to become a doctor and use technology to help others.

Brain Shear is now studying medicine at Central Michigan University and came up with another idea from his time at Apple. The hospital created a 50-page manual for brain tumor patients. Brain decided to turn this 50-page manual and convert it into an ebook using the free iBooks Author program. By making the manual interactive, Brian believes that patients will use and read the information. Even better, he can easily send this manual to others and duplicate it freely, completely eliminating printing costs with the paper manual.

By using the Apple Watch and iBooks Author, Brian Shear has shown how doctors in the future can use technology to save lives and provide information to patients. To read more about Brian Shear, click here.