From self-tracking mobile apps that count calories to wristbands and watches that measure your heart rate and the smart technology woven into clothes, wearables are emerging as a major consumer and tech trend.
Wearables have marched onto the scene hand-in-hand with a broader shift toward digital disruption. Today’s wearables market is estimated to be worth $4bn (£2.7bn) and is expected to swell to at least $90bn (£62.3bn) by 2020. Currently dominating the market are fitness trackers that count calories burned, steps taken and those that even monitor sleep. The data gathered is then transmitted via Bluetooth and visualised by an app on your smartphone.
“However, collecting all that data is useless if users cannot do anything with it,” says author of a research report, Fabiano Vallesi, who is a strategy research and next generation specialist at wealth management firm, Julius Baer. “This is why data analytics, which will help users understand their health data, will be critical for the success of wearables.”
Spotting a lucrative opportunity, tech giants have entered the arena of wearables with medical applications. The Apple HealthKit is now being adopted by major US hospitals to help doctors track patient’s medical history. Google is experimenting with a health tracker that aims to do the same, and Microsoft’s Health service also collates data from third-party apps as well as its own Microsoft Band app. HealthKit shows early promise as a way for doctors to monitor patients remotely and affordably, says Vallesi, who believes wearables could eventually transform healthcare delivery worldwide.
“Wearables might change the daily life of chronic disease patients,” he says, citing an example. “Remote patient monitoring through wearables could increase preventive care and cut readmission rates. Then, wearables could not only lower non-adherence to prescribed therapies, which is estimated to cost more than $100bn [£69.3bn] yearly to the US healthcare system, but also provide medical professionals with real actionable data as to when it’s time to adjust the therapy.”
In general, patients could benefit by needing to attend fewer appointments. Instead, sensors would provide real-time information and professionals would be alerted to warning signs such as high blood pressure or swelling. Hospital stays could be cut, reducing administration for staff and freeing up beds. Emergency room workers could scan patient data quickly, while simultaneously monitoring vital signs and reacting to changes without having to come away to view a computer screen.
Wearable tech could also have significant implications for medicine, finds the report. Diabetic people may have their blood sugar levels monitored via wearable sensors, even embedded in contact lenses, with a signal being sent to a smartphone or watch when a dose of insulin is necessary.
Implications could be mixed, however. As the popularity of wearables surges, there could be an accompanying interest by hackers in data these technologies acquire. Insurance companies might look to wearables as a means to calculate insurance premium costs, but employers might harness them to boost employee wellness, and productivity too.
Dr. Emmanuel Tsekleves, senior lecturer in design interactions at Lancaster University, points to research projects currently underway that investigate the use of wearables in cardiology, mental health and the prevention of falls. “Dedicated conferences in health and wearable tech have also started to emerge,” he adds, a sign that the research and academic communities recognise their potential.
As well as simply reflecting a patient’s health, some research suggests that wearables can make people more health conscious, “meaning that those who tracked health data changed their approach to maintain their health,” says Vallesi. Data to this end remains limited however; technological innovation moves faster than rigorous scientific analysis.
What limitations are preventing wearables being more widely adopted by the medical profession?
“Systems are simply not yet in place to leverage this new health data,” says Vallesi. And he believes wearables need to become more precise, recording data that is “much more relevant” than the likes of step counts.
“Human beings are still complex and hard to manage ... Better data can help us predict behaviour better, but does not make people predictable,” adds Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic, professor of business psychology at University College London.
At this point, wearables are mostly relevant as diagnostic tools, believes Dr Dimitrios Tsivrikos, a business and consumer psychologist also at University College London.
“The true benefits will come when we start using wearables as platforms for behavioural change. Developers should start treating them more as interventions rather than advanced digital health monitors, and consumers should trust using them as facilitators in meeting our health goals, rather than simple health facts calculators.”
Chamorro-Premuzic adds: “I don’t think singularity is close to us yet, but our dependence on technology will take us to the next level shortly. That may be through wearables that connect us to intelligence devices, or, perhaps, wearables that connect us to each other in a way that can leverage collective human wisdom and intelligence like never before.”
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