Health IT

CONVERGE: Smart sensors have moved way beyond wrist-based fitness trackers

A CONVERGE panel discussion on smartwatches and ResearchKit offered a glimpse of the sensors that are going beyond vitals and the wrist.

This story has been updated from an earlier version

A CONVERGE panel discussion on smartwatches and ResearchKit offered a glimpse of the sensors that are going beyond vitals and the wrist.

One of the most interesting things about the sensor market is the diversity of healthcare applications developers are finding for them. Neutun, a member of the latest DreamIt Health class, developed a sensor for smartwatches to help people with epilepsy track their seizures — particularly their frequency — in the context of other information such as the amount of sleep they had.

There’s a lot of skepticism about the quality of collecting fitness and vitals data from a wristworn device, as opposed to say, headphones, or a headband, or a sock. Eric Dolan, the CEO and co-founder of Neutun, talked about the usefulness of having a wearable device that could collect information in the context of the user’s daily life.

He noted that the big pushback he tends to get is from those who think people wold rather use their phone to track that data because they are more likely to remember that than a smartwatch they need to take off and put back on.

Data security was also a highlight of the discussion and Michael Yang, a managing director with Comcast Ventures, drew a little flack from some audience members. When it comes to connected devices there’s a fair amount of fear people have about their devices being hacked and their data stolen. People should be more afraid of someone hacking a car (which grabbed a lot of media headlines) or hacking a house than someone hacking their Fitbit.

Later, Yang clarified that from the hacker’s point of view, he would have little to gain from the data in someone’s Fitbit. “If I hack into your car, that’s dangerous for you. If I can hack into your home when you’re out and your kids are there — that’s scary. But what am I going to do with your steps? What am I going to do with your weight?”

UPDATE He also commented further on this issue on Twitter.

https://twitter.com/yangbness1/status/639291572702605312

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