Health | C4Trends

Five Health Tech Dynamics

Susan Schreiner — Thu, 13 Jan 2022 21:45:49 +0000

The pandemic has dramatically altered the way health care is delivered.

Covid-19 created an urgent need for health systems to upgrade their IT infrastructure, accelerate access to care, and shift care delivery models from the hospital to the home, or through major retailers, local pharmacies and urgent care centers. It fast-tracked the necessity to develop more consumer-centric models that bridged the gap between virtual and in-person care for a greater integrated, personalized and seamless care experience.

While challenges and weaknesses were exposed in global health systems — it also underscored the importance of health tech devices and services as a complementary imperative for delivery of health care during demanding times. Here are five takeaways:

1. Implementations of New Technologies

The pandemic exposed how quickly health systems hit their limits, necessitating the acceleration of digitization. The focus was on increasing healthcare’s accessibility and reach, transparency and efficiency while improving the quality of services at lower costs as care expanded from the hospital to alternative care settings. Digital health solutions include innovations in IT and administration, the cloud, machine learning/AI, analytics, blockchain, cybersecurity — to biopharma and genomics to robotics, immersive technologies, 3D printing, medical transportation hardware/portable devices and software-driven medical devices — to point-of-care testing, remote care-monitoring/IoT and lifestyle products. There’s a surge of tracking, wellness and mental health apps as well.

2. Value and Evidenced-Based Care

Data enables shifting the care model from being reactive in a crisis to becoming proactively predictive. This includes improving detection, diagnosis, assessment and treatment options for improved outcomes at lower costs. While a shift towards a more patient-centric model is advancing, barriers remain. The complexity of health care challenges providers, payers, policymakers, technology companies and other stakeholders. They are adopting enhanced solutions like connected electronic health records, interoperable information systems, and enhanced clinical decision support systems — while protecting privacy. Innovations in digital therapeutics (DTx) devices and apps have the potential to change the health delivery landscape and are a safer and less expensive alternative to drugs, in many cases.

3. Collaborations

A collision of circumstances is adding new urgency for more open cross-sectoral and external collaborations. It will take key stakeholders each with their own unique expertise across technology, medicine, science, health, academia, funding, and business to work together to deliver safe solutions for the common good. The necessity for collaborations extends beyond companies since health is heavily reliant on policy and regulation. As technology gets more sophisticated, there need to be policy guardrails to protect fundamental privacy.

4. Equity and Inclusion

As technologies like AI, big data and automation shape healthcare – equity and inclusion need to be included in the new and emerging digital health models. These models need to consider culture, social determinants of health as well as the needs of individual communities and/or regions.

5. Consumer-Centricity and Market Dynamics

Accelerated by telehealth, consumers now expect immediate gratification from the health delivery community. Apps like ZocDoc offer instant answers if one wants to find a doctor. Retailers are assessing opportunities in health since they own a pipeline to consumers. Repurposing their expertise at reaching out to individuals, CVS, Best Buy, Target, Walgreens and Walmart are rolling out new health care solutions such as care in the home, behavioral health, improved nutrition, wellness, and prevention, as well as pharmaceutical populational health.

What will it take for consumers to further engage in their own behavioral and physical health, including wellness and prevention? How will these innovative but fragmented tech solutions integrate into one frictionless journey that will improve people’s lives while maximizing value? Stay tuned. Reach Susan at susan@c4trends.com.

Age Tech: Reshaping Channel Opportunities

Susan Schreiner — Mon, 29 Mar 2021 18:37:26 +0000

The 65+ mature market and the aging-in-place phenomenon are two of the timeliest intertwined trends that offer opportunities across the healthtech and wellness landscape — for brands, innovators, investors and ultimately, the retail channels.

COVID-19 forced seniors to start looking for technology-based solutions more than ever before – as a consequence of being stuck in their homes with the sudden evaporation of direct access to family and/or in-person medical appointments. Loneliness and isolation are forcing them to use devices – and is accelerating the adoption of devices quicker than might have otherwise occurred. Seniors are acquiring digital skills and are more connected to the Internet than ever.

Connected and digital health capabilities are also enabling them to be in 24/7 contact with their caretakers and health providers. Consumer-based solutions and devices are figuratively, and in actuality, ‘lifelines,’ enabling older adults to connect with their communities, friends, and families – while maintaining their quality of life and wellbeing while they live independently and safely.

Boomers Setting the Pace

Even pre-pandemic, Boomers and seniors were increasing their uptake of smartphones, Internet connectivity and digital health devices. The push towards wanting to age in place and have in-home healthcare, if needed, was starting to gain traction, and the momentum increased over the course of 2020 with COVID-19.

Given the massive numbers of the Boomer demographic, this group has always been a force for change. They have always lived their lives ‘their way’ – starting from their more youthful, restless days in the ’60s and ’70s through the Beatles and the ‘Age of Aquarius’ era, and onward. That brings us to 2021, and the desire for most of this group to continue to live full, healthy and autonomous lives in their homes of choice. In addition, their increased life expectancy translates into a larger pool of older consumers, and a larger potential market for products and services aimed at this demographic. This is a huge upside opportunity for the retail channel.

By the Numbers

The 65+ population was the fastest-growing age group in the country over the past decade, swelling by more than a third, according to the U.S. Census. AARP is reporting that 87% of those aged 65+ want to stay in their current homes and community, as they age. Americans over the age of 50 account for $7.6 trillion in direct spending and related economic activity, according to Oxford Economics/AARP. Older adults in the U.S. dominate 119 out of 123 consumer packaged-goods categories, according to Bank of America/Merrill Lynch. And by 2030, more people worldwide will be over 60 than under 10, according to the Milken Institute. Between 2015 and 2030, the 60+ population will generate over half of all urban consumption growth in developed countries.

In addition, rising healthcare costs and health policy in the U.S. is driving care into the home. One such example is Medicare’s 2020 changes in reimbursement for telehealth technology, which has been expanded for 2021. Some Medicare Advantage plans now cover at least one pair of hearing aids – and other categories are coming into sharper focus.

The need for home health aides has never been higher, as more people and their families decided that it was best to keep senior family members at home. The demand far exceeds the supply. Complementing this trend, hospitals placed a greater priority on quickly discharging patients to their homes – rather than making them stay longer or moving them to transitional care or rehab. This is requiring more and different types of monitoring. Technology is seen as the answer to aging in place, and the solution to other stresses on the healthcare system that were exacerbated during the height of the pandemic.

Technology to the Rescue

Technology is liberating boomers, seniors, families and caretakers by connecting care to the home. During the COVID-19 pandemic, 29% of U.S. seniors ages 65 and older have used video conferencing services, 27% have used telehealth/remote consultation services, 22% have used a grocery store delivery or pickup service, and 55% have an online video service subscription, according to recent research by Parks Associates.

Unlike in the past, when digital services and devices were viewed as only for the 24/7 connected, convenience-seeking Millennials, they are now a lifeline to many homes and individuals of all ages. COVID-19 has spotlighted the role that our homes play in our health and well-being – and together with a variety of technologies, it has transformed ‘home sweet home’ into platforms by which we access services, experiences, and connect with each other.

Recently, AARP launched the AARP Virtual Community Center – a new online destination where older Americans can find a wide array of free online classes and events – including from N.Y.-based OATS – Older Adults Technology Services. “Their [OATS’s] expertise and high-quality programming are lifelines for older people as they explore new ways to live, cope and thrive in a changing world,” said Scott Frisch, AARP executive VP and CEO. “The role of technology in reducing social isolation and providing a platform for engagement has never been clearer,” commented OATS Executive Director Tom Kamber.

Categories and Products

At CES 2021, AARP Innovation Labs showcased products and apps that help people actively and independently age in place in their homes and communities. Here are a few such companies and products.

Zibrio SmartScale – This is a scale that uses a highly sensitive algorithm to measure one’s postural stability and risk of falling, in a 60-second standing test, with eyes open. Users can test their balance on a Zibrio scale to establish a baseline, encourage appropriate intervention like a balance exercise program, and keep tracking balance to see how well the intervention is working, since it comes with the Zibrio Balance Coach app. Zibrio’s patented BioCore balance measurement technology is based on 15 years of research on astronauts, athletes and older adults.

Nobi Monitoring – Nobi looks like an ordinary ceiling-mounted lamp, but it’s packed full of motion and RGB sensors, AI and other tech to help seniors live independently and more safely. It’s a “smart” lamp that will literally watch over an aging family member, and monitors when a person is sitting, laying down or standing – and even illuminates dark rooms when a parent wakes up at an odd hour to go to the bathroom.

While the lamp can detect falls, ask you if everything is okay and if not, send alerts to quickly get help to a caretaker or trusted contact, it’s also meant to prevent falls with activity monitoring and helpful reminders like hydration, reporting fire, or detecting intrusion. It doesn’t require a telephone – and if necessary, Nobi will even open the front door. Nobi debuted at CES 2021 and is expected to be ready for European countries soon.

Caregiver Smart Solution/Aging in Place – This is a smart caregiver solution or wellness monitor that provides insight into a senior’s activity at home or in assisted living communities. The Core Kit includes a downloadable app, a smart hub and small, non-intrusive sensors that are placed discreetly around a home. The collected data is fed into the AI and machine-learning-based app for early detection of potential health issues – and it’s available to the caregiver or family members. This wellness monitor seeks to understand and track normal daily routines, such as if a person is eating, sleeping normally and moving around – and can detect behavioral symptoms of physical changes. Its fall detection and emergency buttons can instantaneously alert the caregiver for immediate help. In addition, the app maintains the history of alerts sent to the caregiver – which can also help answer questions from the doctor.

Samsung/Sight & Hearing Impairment – We all know of Samsung’s reputation for its diverse line of technologically advanced products – but did you know that many of its products also include accessibility features? Declining sight and/or hearing often comes with age or with other conditions. At CES 2021, Samsung introduced its SeeColors Application and Sign Language Zoom Feature across its 2021 range of Neo QLED, Micro LED, and Lifestyle TVs. The SeeColors application helps those with sight challenges better view billions of colors. The app is designed to help those with Color Vision Deficiency to adjust the color settings on their Samsung QLED TVs to meet their individual needs. Samsung also showed off the ability to invert colors on a menu. It leaves the video as it is, but makes it easier for people who are low-vision to see the menu options. In partnership with scientists at the Budapest University of Technology and Economics, Samsung has adopted the Colorlite Test, or C-test, within the SeeColors app to recognize a user’s CVD levels and then automatically optimize their viewing experience.

Similarly, while declining hearing often comes with aging, there are also those with other types of hearing and accessibility challenges. Accordingly, Samsung also introduced its Sign Language Zoom and Caption Moving features across its 2021 Neo QLED, Micro LED, and lifestyle TVs. Its Sign Language Zoom automatically recognizes and magnifies the sign language area for the hearing-impaired by up to 200%. Users can specify a sign language area and adjust the magnification by zooming in on the area, as well as move the captions to avoid blocking the subtitle text.

These latest apps and features join existing accessibility functionality on Samsung devices like its Galaxy S21. This smartphone supports a wide range of offerings for visual impairment, hearing impairment, and dexterity and mobility issues.

Condition Management: Spotlight on Hearing

Hearing loss is a silent ‘epidemic’ that has been spreading during the last few decades – and it’s not limited to Grandpa. It currently affects more than 1.2 billion people worldwide, disabling 480 million. Hearing loss is related to quality of life, learning abilities, work productivity, and some health conditions – and lately there might be indirect links between hearing loss and COVID-19.

Until recently, the solution for hearing loss was expensive hearing aids, only available through ‘prescription.’ Over the past three years or so, however, this has changed, thanks to a new set of chips and technologies that are enabling the emergence of less expensive personal sound amplification devices (PSADs), distributed through mainstream retail channels – and they represent an ever-growing new revenue opportunity.

Advancing technology inspired by smartphones, even these less-expensive hearing aids ensure that the sound going into one’s ear is clearer, not just louder. They offer sound and speech processing, digital noise and wind noise reduction, plus improved management of those annoying high-pitched feedback screeches, squeals and whistles. They include AI and machine learning to analyze a wearer’s environment and their level of hearing loss, and to automatically make adjustments. They also include varied, non-obtrusive and discreet smaller sizes, and rechargeable batteries as well as Bluetooth streaming capability from a smartphone, computer or TV. Some include fall detection, or act as a fitness tracker when used with a smartphone.

These devices in a variety of form factors are coming from companies like Wehear Hearing Solutions, HeardThat from Singular Hearing, Absolute Audio Labs, Wear&Hear from Alango Technologies, Rexton, Lucid Audio, Soundwear and others. Olive Union blends hearing aids with wireless earbuds.

Companies like Alango Technologies, with its Wear&Hear line, even offer in-store kiosks for express hearing checks that provide results on the spot. Currently, the kiosk is available in seven languages including English, Hebrew, Russian, Chinese (simplified and traditional), Arabic and Dutch.

Related to hearing aids are also other devices that amplify sound, such as an amplified ringer or the visual flasher from Krown, or the portable telephone handset amplifier from Clarity.

These assisted-hearing devices represent major new revenue streams in the senior marketplace given the rising Boomer demographic and sheer size of this aging population – and insurance reimbursement is increasing for a number of these devices.

Starting several years ago – pre-pandemic – tech companies began to see the advantages of designing devices particularly aimed at seniors. Getting these connected and digital health products, services and technologies into the homes of Boomers and older adults is under way, and they offer vast market opportunities for industry players and channels – particularly for those companies and channels already with a footprint in the home.

The trend is clear. While the pandemic has wrought great tragedy, anguish and destruction, one of the ‘positive’ trends to emerge from this devastation is that it has accelerated the adoption of consumer-based digital health-related devices, gadgets, systems and services particularly for aging populations.

Now is the time for retail channels to explore and deliver products relevant to now – and to create and accelerate the strategic framework and initiatives for an ongoing future. Look around your communities. Digital health opportunities for an aging population abound – whether at retail, via e-commerce or big-box stores, for in-home convenience and functionality, or for integrators who can create healthier smart homes – or on a B2B basis selling to Visiting Angels or to local assisted-living facilities.

People are aging in the comfort of their homes and are looking for consumer-based technology solutions that deliver better health outcomes at reduced costs – while also improving connectivity between themselves and others. Delivering smart digital health solutions that make their lives more comfortable, safe, and enjoyable with the added benefits of instantaneous responsiveness gives their caretakers a peace of mind – and this offers you new business development opportunities and revenue streams. This makes age tech a win–win for everyone!

The Consumerization Of Health & Wellness

Susan Schreiner — Tue, 29 Dec 2020 18:40:54 +0000

When mid-March 2020 rolled around, the public health and economic crisis of our age scrambled everything. Now into the fourth quarter — retailers, distributors and resellers are on the brink of counting on what’s possibly the most uncertain holiday season ever!

A key consequential certainty arising out of 2020 and the pandemic are the opportunities that are emerging as people focused on health, self-care, wellness and fitness. Also, they are spending more time at home — whether creating home classrooms or working-from-home. Subsequently, these trends are generating new emerging business models, ways of doing business and revenue opportunities.

Health and wellness in its various permutations is taking center stage. It represents game-changing opportunities for the channel and retailers. It’s about retailers telling a story in their stores and catalogs – that is centered around creating value that is transforming the consumer health experience. During 2020, the demand for digital health products and connections to telehealth and apps, for physical and mental health access skyrocketed.

Consumer Expectations

Like all of our digital experiences in other parts of our lives – consumers are starting to expect ‘health on demand’ – and this has only intensified with the pandemic. What relevant products are you stocking and how are you merchandising them?

Digital health is empowering consumers to take charge of their well-being. For retailers, this includes considering new types of products and services that are entering the market as a result of collaborations between science/health and technology companies. In many cases, these products are more sophisticated and therefore offer more value and profit opportunity. Many of these devices capture, store or transmit health data through some sort of add-on service. Is the service included with the product, or is sold as a separate subscription? What’s the model? What are the opportunities for retailers?

In addition, a new category within digital health is emerging. It’s called digital therapeutics and many of these products are or will be sold through the mainstream. These products  are FDA approved – and their approval is based on regulatory reviewed evidence. Digital therapeutics deliver non-drug therapeutic interventions to prevent, manage, or treat a medical disorder or disease. It’s usually software-based that requires a piece of hardware like a dedicated device, accessory, tablet, smartphone or even a VR headset!

We started to see a wave of these types of products at CES 2020. Tivic Health is one such example. Its ClearUP Sinus Pain Relief is an FDA approved, over-the-counter non-invasive, small bioelectronic gadget. It harnesses the power of body’s electrical network to provide safe, non-drug options for consumers with a variety of medical and chronic conditions such as allergy-related sinus pain relief.

All of these forces and activities are also creating a new umbrella category — HealthTech – aka the ’next big thing.’

Even companies like Google, Apple, Amazon and others are jumping into HealthTech in different ways – ranging from devices and services, health research and supply chain management to developing relationships with providers or selling direct to consumers or through other channels.

In today’s pandemic environment, digital and connected health are a catalyst for the transformation of healthcare ecosystems in ‘real-time’ — and it’s accelerating the ‘consumerization of health.

The Channel

Everyone is getting into the action. Channel leaders such as Target, Best Buy, Costco, Walmart, CVS, Walgreens and others are turning their attention to health and wellness in new and imaginative ways. They’ve increased their SKUs of different types of ‘off-the-shelf’ products – and several have gone a step further – opening actual clinics.

Recently, Costco started selling COVID-19 tests online. For $130/kit, Costco will ship saliva tests to members’ homes. Members then send their saliva sample to a testing center in a pre-provided package; results come back in 24 to 48 hours. This is just the beginning of a new opportunity – as the FDA starts to approve increased at-home testing options.

CVS Health, which now includes the nation’s third-largest health plan in Aetna (the pharmacy’s benefit manager Caremark, 9,900 pharmacies and 1,100 retail MinuteClinics under one umbrella) hopes to change how consumers access healthcare and lower costs in the process. It is remodeling hundreds of stores into HealthHUB locations for everyday care that dedicates 20% of the store to healthcare services, products and personal care items. Now, imagine if you were to create an area focused on health, wellness and fitness products.

Retailers might consider looking for new product sources and opening relationships at both ends of the spectrum – known brands as well as with younger companies with innovative products. There’s also an influx of health products that are FDA approved – and thereby more likely to be eligible for insurance reimbursement. These products are at the fore of also creating or breaking into new mainstream marketplaces and offer a range of business development opportunities. Consider your community — and think outside the box!

Research from Facebook

During the summer of 2020, Facebook together with 3^rd party research published a useful report for consumer tech channels. Meant to provide data points for digital marketers, this report looked at evolving digital media trends amidst the pandemic and incorporated responses from over 34,000 consumers.

The report identified five key global macro shifts – these trends are colliding with the consumer technology sector and offer insight into the new opportunities for retailers. The pandemic is impacting consumer behaviors and their purchasing decisions. Consider these trends as a guide to a slew of new products and devices that will be on people’s radar as personal health continues to be top of mind as we head into 2021.

As you review these trends, consider them within the scope of how to reimagine your current environment for current and future gains, including revenue and new business development opportunities as well as building branding and loyalty and engagement with your customers.

Mindful Wellness. People needed to adjust to new ways of living, working, learning and parenting. They are taking control of their mental and physical well-being to counter the stress of the situation. This ranges from recreation, gardening and exercise to various forms of entertainment. Consider that overnight, baking bread became a popular family activity and distraction – and sourdough was one of those keywords trending on the Internet. Similarly, meditation and self-help apps skyrocketed and devices to enhance sleep became popular as did wearables to reduce stress and anxiety levels as well as to monitor one’s health or that of a loved one from afar. Checkout TouchPoint, below.
Connected Convenience. Feeling together while apart has become central. Consider the exponential growth in the way people are connecting with businesses and the way brands are messaging. Or, socializing with friends or colleagues for a virtual cocktail hour via Zoom or seeing grandkids via Facetime. The demand for webcams skyrocketed overnight! Think about the accelerated increase in the demand for telemedicine during this pandemic, with physician or hospital overload and safety concerns about the contagion aspect. The demand for connected health and digital health devices are out-pacing expectations. Consider the peripherals and hardware needed to connect with friends, family, business colleagues, caregivers and health professionals. This is here and expected to grow.
Safer Shopping. This relates to the consumer journey and how people are shopping. It’s about home delivery and curbside pickup, contactless in-store shopping, and the shift to omnichannel distribution and eCommerce. What are you doing?
Glocal Community. It’s the Community Angle. The lockdowns of the pandemic and staying closer to home has brought communities closer, leading to an increase in appreciation and support for local businesses. The time is ripe for retailers to generate customer retention and loyalty. This could work to the benefit of the retailer if they leverage their assets, build more engaging customer experiences and deliver seamless, responsive customer service – as well as carrying merchandise relevant to these times and your targeted demographic.
Gen Z’s Regeneration. In 2020, 41% of the world is under 25 – and it represents the future. In many ways, it’s likely that this generation will be most transformed by the pandemic. It has solidified Gen Z’s support of causes and the social good, like favoring eco-friendly products that reduce their environmental impact. For retailers this might translate into eco-friendly products that are identified with certain organizations, community or celebrity ‘give-back,’ or charity.

More than ever, the ‘new norm’ is bringing with it a new pragmatism in the consumer’s shopping journey – whether it’s a purchase for themselves, family or friends – even for the holiday season. How can a product improve the quality of life – whether for fun or wellness.

Resiliency in the Age of COVID-19

Susan Schreiner — Tue, 07 Jul 2020 18:49:16 +0000

To battle the COVID-19 pandemic, tech companies are working with health care organizations, nonprofits, academia and startups to share their expertise, insights, and data to inform actions and decisions needed to flatten the pandemic’s curve.

The COVID-19 Healthcare Coalition is one such private-industry led response. Among the participating organizations are Amazon Web Services, Athenahealth, Cerner, Diagnostic Robots, Epic, Mayo Clinic, Microsoft, MITRE and Oura.

Many companies are working on detection systems and tests. Infervision launched a coronavirus artificial intelligence (AI) medical imaging platform that looks for signs of pneumonia in lung scans and can diagnose coronavirus in minutes. And, Hilab has developed a rapid blood test to identify pneumonia faster.

Companies are deploying robots, drones and automation technology to assist hospitals, senior care homes and to disinfect public places. UVD Robots provides self-driving disinfection robots that use ultraviolet light to kill viruses and bacteria autonomously.

Resiliency and Connectivity

A self-driving disinfection robot from UVD Robots.

With stay-at-home orders in effect across the country, telecommuting from home is a new norm — and could change how people will expect to work in the future. Platforms like Zoom and Slack are connecting families and colleagues through video chat. COVID-19 is also changing online streaming behavior globally. Television interviews are being conducted via Skype and other digital channels.

Viewers are going inside the homes of their favorite celebrity or broadcaster to get their news. As storefronts shutter, remote connectivity is moving more businesses online and moving education towards greater distance learning opportunities and online teaching resources.

Remote communications, virtual doctor visits and telehealth are using technology to make the health care community more resilient, but it took COVID-19 to catapult it forward. Desperate to free-up beds for the sickest COVID-19 patients, hospitals nationwide are using new technologies to monitor patients from their homes. Virtual visits are part of the new norm to reduce contact with others, expedite access to non-emergency care and decrease patients from going to overloaded hospitals.

This pandemic is also showing the obstacles to being resilient. School closures and remote work are showcasing the inequities in access to high-speed internet, and how it can impact access to education, work and health care delivery during a crisis.

The public-private sectors are working together to make systems and accessibility more resilient. In March 2020, the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) opened the door for Verizon to use more spectrum to help the operator meet increased demand for mobile broadband during the pandemic. Similarly, the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) published guidelines for countries to develop contingency plans to keep networks online in times of national emergencies.

Tech Health Directory

CTA worked with the White House, Amazon Web Services and the American Telemedicine Association to launch an online directory as a resource for health professionals.

TechHealthDirectory.com is a voluntary collaboration among tech companies in response to a federal government request to provide heath care resources to help fight the pandemic.

New Beginnings

As we look ahead as to how the coronavirus could reshape everyday life — technology is at the center of the critical infrastructure that modern life depends on and that enables physical ‘resiliency’ — the medical supply chain, the food supply chain, and the complexity of supplying stuff, like apparel and even toilet paper — as well as the entertainment/information supply chain.

Companies are bringing the full force of technology for the betterment of humanity.

May/June 2020

The Consumerization of Health

Susan Schreiner — Thu, 02 Apr 2020 18:42:13 +0000

Digital health products are becoming integral to the prevention, diagnosis, treatment and management of disease. These technologies are empowering consumers to take control of their health and are taking on new relevancy with the shift in the U.S. system from fee-for-service provider models to value-based outcomes. They also offer opportunities for retailers and other channels.

A stumbling block to adoption is the cost of devices and reimbursement, but this is changing. Employer insurance programs are focusing on employee’s wellness for improved productivity. Similarly, there is a shift towards more seamless reimbursement as part of a ‘whole-person’ integration that includes digital experiences and consumer-oriented services. Keeping consumers healthier is cheaper than episodic expensive incidents that turn consumers into patients.

March/April 2020

Customized Products

Many products have been clinically evaluated with published trial results. These products monitor for a problem and are yielding personalized insights that result in actionable data to the consumer or patient that can be shared with a caretaker or clinician. These devices are eliminating barriers to adopting effective technology within health care.

The Apple Watch with its health monitoring features and apps is a good example. So too is Omron’s Heart Guide, a Class II medical device. It’s a smart watch that not only puts a blood pressure cuff on your wrist but through its closed-loop service can understand fluctuations in blood pressure and give reactive advice. It’s also the first service to directly reimburse the patient. It provides instant rewards based on daily health habits encouraging good behavior aka behavior modification. Omron’s combination of hardware, algorithms, coaching and rewards, and direct-to-patient reimbursement has hit the mass market. Is this approach a model or a threat to Pharma and Life Sciences corporations?

The opioid epidemic also has heightened demand for non-invasive drug replacement therapies for disease and pain management. Digital therapeutics, a subset of digital health, are interventions driven by high quality software programs to prevent, manage or treat physical, mental and behavioral conditions. A product called the Oska Pulse is a clinically proven medical-grade pain relief device that is FSA and HSA reimbursable. It uses Pulsed Electromagnetic Field therapy. Simply place the small, portable device at the source of the discomfort and it relieves thepain by pulsing electromagnetic waves at precise frequencies.

No Surgery Needed

“Another wave of new non-invasive devices are coming to market that will provide safe, non-drug options for patients with a variety of medical conditions and are showing promise in addressing depression, Parkinson’s disease, chronic pain, PTSD, Alzheimer’s and diabetes,” said Jennifer Ernst, CEO, Tivic Health, a Eureka Park exhibitor at CES. These bioelectronic therapies eliminate the need for surgery and are based on neuromodulation techniques like deep brain stimulation for Parkinson’s and spinal cord stimulation for chronic pain.

Consumers want easier, cheaper and more approachable health care products and services. We have come to expect immediate gratification. Neighborhood retailers like Walmart, CVS, BestBuy Health and Walgreens are now on the cusp of changing health delivery, with new programs and pilots.

The challenge facing innovators is to move from working in silos to collaborations that integrate the best ideasto solve societal problems for the betterment of humankind.

Let Tech Level up your Sports Play

Susan Schreiner — Mon, 09 Dec 2019 17:03:11 +0000

New advancements in IoT, artificial intelligence (AI), 5G and analytics are offering new business opportunities in the smart sports world. And for those who want to improve their golf, tennis, baseball or basketball performance there’s a growing selection of connected sports gear. In 2018, the global sports market was valued at $1.36 trillion, according to Technavio, a sports market research firm. Meanwhile, the global smart sports market is expected to post a compound annual growth rate of over 37% during 2019-2023, according to Technavio.

Data platforms are underpinning the next generation of digital sports products, capturing real-time metrics for player analysis and performance evaluations for actionable behavior changes. They provide detailed insights about form, performance and specifics to improve performance. Innovative startups are transforming the way products collect, analyze and share athletic data

Tennis Tech is Here

Golf

Practice, observation and analysis of your golf swing is vital to improve. An accessory called GameGolf Live Tracking System offers GPS shot tracking, a range finder that measures the precise distance to the green and offers online challenges with golfers worldwide. The SmartGolf Club offers in-depth analysis/replay with its 3D-avatar system. Built-in advanced motion sensors and transmitters in the grip and club head measures the exact swing, and then sends the data to the SmartGolf app.

Tennis

Professional tennis players have used video analysis to view every stroke in slow-motion detail for years. Now consumers can access that capability, by retrofitting their racket with a sensor that communicates with an app via Bluetooth. Companies like Sony and Champion offer smart tennis sensors that fit on the racquet to capture every shot — to alert the player what needs work. QLIPP Tennis Sensor Enhanced, Zepp Tennis 2 Swing & Match Analyzer offer racquet sensors from Wilson, Babolat, Head, Prince and Yonex.

Indoor Cycling

Peloton put a new spin on the mundane indoor stationary exercise bike by making the bike smart. Peloton’s large screen and its growing library of instructor-led, live or on-demand studio classes have created a community around its app that makes you forget how hard you’re exercising.

Matternet drones are perfect for smart stadium technology

Sports Stadiums

Stadiums are transforming thanks to developments such as live event holograms, computer vision for ticketing and security, blockchain-based betting, and paying concessions using biometric identifiers. Teams are investing in smart stadiums featuring robots and drones from Matternet, Starship and Mythic; real-time crowd sentiment analysis from companies like Affectiva or CrowdOptic;

And real-time player insights from Komodo, Hexoskin, Athos and Signal. Connecting sports gear and stadiums with advanced tech is enhancing and improving experiences for athletes and fans alike.

C4 Trends Senior Editor/Analyst Susan Schreiner can be reached at susan@c4trends.com.

Five Ways AI is Transforming Health Care

Susan Schreiner — Wed, 12 Jun 2019 17:29:04 +0000

AI is transforming the way we prevent, manage and treat illness in new ways. It will maximize efficiencies and harness an increasing volume of data and knowledge, but AI is different from human intelligence. It uses machines with algorithms to ingest and analyze complex data. What distinguishes AI technology from traditional techniques in health care is the ability to gain information and detect meaningful relationships in data sets — for actionable output.

AI, along with robotics, the Internet of Things (IoT), 3D printing, genetic engineering and quantum computing are converging and enabling new possibilities in health care and patient engagement. Global spending on health care AI is expected to reach anywhere from $644 million to $126 billion by 2025.

Health care organizations and payers are leveraging emerging technologies while also dealing with challenges like privacy, control of data, inequality and bias. Let’s look at a few key areas of focus.

Top Five AI Health Trends

1. Changing Expectations

The challenge for AI is how to provide better insight into medical data so that health care consumers can make informed health decisions. “Consumers expect health care to be available like conducting their (online) banking, reserving their airline seats and making restaurant reservations,” says Bernard J. Tyson, chairman and CEO of Kaiser Permanente.

2. Precision Medicine to Personalized Health

Precision medicine will enable data to screen for and treat disease, tailored to one’s DNA via an AI profile that includes lifestyle, health history, biology and genetic information. Genetic testing is becoming easier and less expensive. The cost of sequencing one’s entire genome costs less than $1,000 via a mobile app, as compared to over $200,000 10 years ago.

Prescriptions and other treatment regimens based on a person’s AI profile are also moving away from a one-size-fits-all category. Physicians can quickly identify the most effective treatment, minimize drug reactions and reduce the procedures they prescribe.

3. Leveraging AI for Diagnosis

AI is making its mark in health care delivery by reducing and/or removing the potential for errors. In radiology, AI is enabling radiologists to make more accurate diagnostic decisions, including breast cancer. For example, two Massachusetts-based scientists created an AI system to improve the detection and diagnosis of lesions seen on mammograms.

4. Health Monitoring and Wearables

Wearable devices are getting more sophisticated, with sensors being integrated with algorithms that allow patients, doctors and anyone looking for a healthier life to focus on prevention and wellness. They generate continuous data in real time, rather than periodic measurements of health-related signs.

MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory is testing Emerald, which offers promising “X-ray Vision” technology. This smart home system uses AI, sensors and radio signals to track movements, sleep, heart rate, breathing and gait — as long as there is Wi-Fi. Its radio signals bounce off a person’s body, sending the reflection onto the device’s screen in the form of a stick figure that walks, sits and moves its limbs just as the person does.

5. Consumer Empowerment: Virtual Doctors

With the help of AI, online apps give basic health information and advice. There are AI-based services from insurers, for instance, that serve as virtual doctors. If you notice any symptoms, log into the app to get medical advice wherever you are. The AI-driven system uses speech recognition to help select the correct action by analyzing data within the context of the consumer’s health reports, but also external research and clinical expertise.

Imagine a world where AI can analyzeyour health via eye scans, recognize depression, detect skin cancer and spot outbreaks in disease so that people can lead longer and healthier lives. It sounds like science fiction, but it’s coming.

Wearables & Tracking: Getting Serious

Susan Schreiner — Fri, 04 May 2018 08:45:48 +0000

Not another column about wearables, you might be thinking. Some distribution channels might perceive that ‘It’s peaked for us,’ or ‘There’s limited opportunity,’ or ‘People buy the stuff, only to put it away after a few weeks,’ and so on. Until recently, wearables have been associated with low-tech trackers, and other gizmos and gadgets – but change is in the air – as the market moves beyond the novelty phase.

Big innovation trends like IoT, AR/VR, AI, low-power wireless technologies, nano-technologies and smart textiles are reshaping the wearables market for the next chapter in its evolution. These technologies are unleashing a new era for digital wearables across sectors including fashion, entertainment, fitness, sports performance, and enterprise and productivity, as well as healthcare. Do we need to change our way of looking at wearables?

Beyond stylish form factors and design, the future for more sophisticated wearables will be reliant on increasing consumer expectations of actionable feedback based on the new ‘gold’ – data. It is the growing ability to accurately and effectively analyze this data, and provide an action, insight or diagnosis that is starting to change the wearables landscape, and holds the key to disruption. At the back end, hidden under the hood, this involves Big Data Analytics, Machine Learning, Artificial Intelligence and Predictive Analysis. This is the ‘magic sauce’ that is underpinning this next generation of wearables.

Opportunities

What will be measured? Will it be sports performance, fitness or just plain activity? Will it be parameters associated with wellness or health, such as chronic disease, illness or pain management? Will wearables increase worker engagement, motivation or squeeze greater productivity and efficiencies in the workplace? If I purchase a device, do I pay, or will it be reimbursed?

Every one of these questions represents an opportunity for the channel. From a business strategy perspective, the channel may want to consider identifying four local or regional metrics, and then mapping products/categories against them. Parameters might include:

Demographics: Age, gender – which age groups are trending larger
Local sports activities and teams, including at schools and colleges
Proximity of institutions like clinics, rehab and assisted-living facilities as well as physicians and gerontologists
Other work-related environments including, for example, manufacturing and enterprises.

Aside from products that are fads and are less sustainable, the wellness and health sectors merit closer scrutiny by channels. They represent what’s here as well as future opportunities. Stores like Best Buy are developing categories within their physical and virtual stores that showcase this ever-growing category – particularly with the consumerization of health.

People are catching on that the monitoring of exercise, weight, and heart rate can lead to making healthier decisions. It’s like having a personal assistant who tracks and monitors your health and then encourages you to make decisions that improve your overall quality of life.

The use of wearable devices by consumers has nearly quadrupled in the past four years, from just nine percent in 2014 to 33 percent today, according to Accenture. Roughly three-fourths of health consumers view wearables — such as those that monitor glucose, heart rate, physical activity and sleep — as beneficial to understanding their health condition (75 percent), engaging with their health (73 percent), and monitoring the health of a loved one (73 percent).

Longer Lifespans

The Spire Health Tag, a small biosensor that transforms clothing into a smart wearable, monitoring sleep, stress and daily activity, is one product that taps into Baby Boomers’ desire to retain control over their own health

People are living longer lifespans, and boomers want to stay healthy as long as possible. With the Baby Boomer generation comes technological shifts and an ever-increasing role for wearables, because they are always on a person.

The aging tech-savvy Baby Boomers want to retain control over their own health, and also plan to live independently for as long as possible. Companies are addressing the elderly and aging as a separate and lucrative market with its own needs – and for channels this represents an emerging, burgeoning market. Empowering people to ‘age in place’ usually has better outcomes, higher quality of life, and is cost-reducing for already overloaded medical institutions. In a recent poll, 90 percent of older Americans were said to prefer to live in their own home as they age.

These wearables and devices support a higher degree of convenience, security, and assistance to this population. Sensors in wearables can detect abnormal activity such as falls, change of habits, and altered sleep. They also act as health monitors that can help the user achieve the care they need by recording and tracking their condition for them, and then easily sharing this information with a doctor or caretaker.

Increasingly, wearables will also bridge the gap between patients and the care they need, even when they are not in the same room or building as a provider or doctor. They will also offer faster response to emergencies and medical issues, as they arise. Exhibits and discussions at CES 2018, HIMSS 2018 (the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society’s IT show and conference) and other events have centered around new models for care in which wearable devices are becoming part of the healthcare delivery team.

Apple and Samsung

Entrepreneurs, analysts, researchers, investors and major technology players like Apple, Amazon, Google and Samsung, among others, are busy discussing how wearables are going to impact healthcare in a more significant manner and are working to develop new health-focused solutions.

A new generation of smartwatches, led by Apple Watch and Android Weardevices, threaten to render simpler fitness trackers obsolete. Improved motion sensors and fitness apps on phones could also be used to track walks or runs without a dedicated fitness tracker.

Apple, with its iOS as well as its HealthKit and CareKit platforms, is building an ecosystem including third parties that are generating products and services that cover the spectrum from provider to patient and consumer. By working with innovative medical, health and other companies, Apple is broadening its reach into the healthcare industry and helping to support digital solutions that improve quality of care and the patient experience throughout all stages of care.

The AliveCor KardiaBand watch strap with sensor, compatible with the Apple Watch, is the world’s first FDA-cleared EKG with Artificial Intelligence. It allows the wearer to check in with his heart on-the-go, track data over time or email medical-grade recordings directly to a doctor for review. Companies like Belkin, for instance, with its Fitness Armbands makes various versions of the Apple iPhone a wearable.

Samsung’s Gear S2

Similarly, Samsung is also aiming to be player in wearables, and it is leveraging its VR headset and various models of the Gear smartwatch for meaningful health. Built into Samsung hardware and software is Samsung’s Knox Tizen SDK platform. The Tizen OS and Knox security features include authentication controls and encryption, as well as how data is transmitted and stored. The SDK also allows for app and device management, customization and more.

At CES 2018 and then at HIMSS, Samsung Electronics and MobileHelp, a maker of home and wearable medical alert devices, announced a collaboration that would bring mobile personal emergency response capabilities to Samsung Gear S3 smartwatches. Called MobileHelp Smart, the devices integrate MobileHelp’s platform into a modified version of Samsung’s watch, taking advantage of its fitness-monitoring features, GPS, cell capabilities, and 24/7 emergency help responsiveness. It even has a Fall Button, which automatically detects a fall and signals for help even if the wearer can’t.

Reemo Health’s remote monitoring platform compatible with Samsung Gear watches was also introduced at CES and then at HIMSS. It is aimed at senior care, home health and post-acute monitoring. It enables tracking the user’s movement, heart rate and location, and enables one-button 911 calls. It also records the wearer’s quality of movement, sleep patterns and other relevant health data and uploads it to the cloud, so that care providers and family members can spot negative health trends on a dashboard, and intervene before there’s an emergency. It is now also working with personal safety and security company ADT and analytics company Teradata. The partnership will allow seniors to access ADT’s help line by tapping a Samsung Gear smartwatch.

Wellness, Health, Boomers & More

Fitbit is shifting from its wristband perch into niche markets and is now particularly focused on wellness and health. It’s developing a new ecosystem with features like the App Gallery, Fitbit Pay, its subscription-based Fitbit Coach trainer, and is working to integrate its recent acquisition of Twine Health’s cloud-based health platform into its Fitbit. This spring it will launch the Fitbit Ace, a tracker for kids 8 years and up, as well as the much-anticipated new smartwatch, the Fitbit Versa. The Fitbit Ace will track steps, sleep, activity minutes, and can connect to a smartphone. It also comes with an adjustable, showerproof wristband in two bright colors. The Ace encourages kids to stay active by giving them a buzz on their wrist, which reminds them to walk 250 steps each hour, and it also gives kids feedback with celebratory messages and collectible badges.

Employer Wellness Programs with Incentives

Early in March at HIMSS, the UnitedHealthcare Motion programannounced that it was adding Apple Watch to its employee wellness program, in addition to Fitbit, Garmin and Samsung devices. UHC Motion, which is powered by Qualcomm Life’s 2net platform, is an employer-sponsored wellness program that launched in March 2016. Participants can earn up to $4 per day in credits by achieving one or more of their goals on each arm of the F.I.T. (frequency, intensity, and tenacity) program. Altogether, participants can earn up to $1,500 in Health Savings Account or Health Reimbursement Account credits per year.

Participants in the program will be able to get Apple Watches nearly for free, paying only taxes and shipping. They can then apply earnings from the program toward purchase of the device, owning it in as little as six months.

United Healthcare follows in the footsteps of Aetna, which has been offering some members free Apple Watches since September 2016.

AR/VR

Virtual reality is changing entertainment as well as gaming – and more content is becoming available. There are headsets from Sony, HTC, Acer, Lenovo, Oculus and others.

One of the more intriguing uses of VR is as the new painkiller or drug-free alternative for managing pain and anxiety – helping patients to “escape” from painful medical procedures or scary hospital stays. Leaders in this new area are Cedars-Sinai and AppliedVR, among others.

Dr. Brennan Spiegel and his team at Cedars-Sinai hospital in Los Angeles introduced VR worlds to patients to help them release stress and reduce pain. Applied VR is a clinically validated content platform, compatible with Samsung’s Gear VR that is transforming patient experiences in hospitals, senior care facilities, exam rooms and more. Its easy-to-use VR content platform enables a patient to escape from the hospital and visit amazing landscapes in Iceland, participate in the work of an art studio, or swim with whales. By reducing stress and pain, the length of a patient’s stay or the amount of resources utilized can both be decreased, according to Spiegel.

“Therapeutic VR is not just creating distraction. We’ve found that, neurochemically, there is something going on,” said Dr. David Rhew, chief medical officer, Samsung Electronics America, at HIMSS 2018.

At the beginning of March, Travelers Insurance, Cedars-Sinai, Samsung Electronics America, Bayer and AppliedVR announced a collaboration to explore the effectiveness of a digital pain-reduction kit that uses therapeutic VR and wearable technology (the Gear VR and Gear Fit) as a non-pharmacological supplement to managing pain associated with acute orthopedic injuries of the lower back and extremities, resulting from workplace injuries, for example. In this era of the opioid epidemic, this type of digital therapeutic might alleviate the need for an injured employee to turn to drugs to mask pain. There’s an opportunity for channels to explore new and/or upcoming sales opportunities with medical, rehabilitation and other facilities in their local or regional communities.

New-Baby Gadgets & Hearables

Perhaps no group is as tuned into data as new parents of their first-born. From the hour their baby is born, they are continually monitoring how long the baby sleeps, how many diapers are changed, how much and how often the baby eats, what the baby weighs, and the list goes on and on. If the baby is sick, add in more data points to worry about, like temperature, medication and fluids.

It’s not surprising that the latest wave of consumer data products targets worried new parents trying to get some peace of mind. Recently, a national baby goods superstore sent a sales email including a baby sock with a built-in pulse oximeter. It tracks the baby’s heart rate and oxygen levels and sends a signal to the parent’s phone if something appears to be wrong. There are also other devices with apps where parents can record the baby’s weight, feeding times and amounts, diaper changes, sleep and more. That data can then be shared with doctors and caregivers.

Hearables

This is a relatively new category for wearables. It’s no longer just about headphones or earbuds just for listening to music or phone calls. There are a growing number of smart earbuds that function as fitness coaches, personal assistants and language translators – with no bulky wrist accessory.

There are products like the Bragi Dash Pro that offers five hours of battery life, real-time translation, and more. The Samsung Gear IconX 2018brings Bixby and extended battery life – five hours of streaming music over Bluetooth, seven hours of standalone use and up to four hours of talk time. Jabra’s Elite Sport offers real-time coaching, heart rate sensing and Vo2 Max testing plus sweat- and water-proofing. Extras include audio pass-through, so you can easily switch between calls and music. At MWC, we saw the latest version of the real-time language translating earbudfrom Waverly Labs. The earbuds use dual microphones and custom noise cancelling algorithms to produce clear speech for listen and converse features.

Conclusion

A growing range of wearables and personal electronics are quickly becoming staples of our lifestyles. Simple user interfaces, seamless experiences and convenience are key. The new combinations of multiple devices and data — Fitbits, smartphones, the weather, what we eat, how far we walk, our sleep – will bring new insights and value to people’s lives. Increasingly, wearables are moving into the realm of becoming a more integral part of people’s well-being and health as they shift from just spewing raw data to delivering insights for healthier living.

The uses for wearables are increasingly limitless, and ultimately will become ubiquitous. At the recent Winter Olympics in PyeongChang, Visadebuted three NFC-enabled limited-edition mobile payment wearables for athletes and fans. Wearable tech helped Winter Olympic athletes skate faster and stay warm. Some athletes wore self-warning jackets from Ralph Lauren, as well as the Samsung SmartSuit designed for speed skaters.

What’s the vision of wearables? What superpowers will wearables give consumers in the future? What are the new opportunities for channels? Stay tuned.

C4 Trends Senior Editor/Analyst Susan Schreiner can be reached at susan@c4trends.com.

Cybersecurity: The Next ‘Big Thing’

Susan Schreiner — Tue, 27 Mar 2018 08:36:55 +0000

Cybersecurity risks are escalating, threatening businesses, governments and consumers. In a world that revolves around the internet, security breaches, hacked elections, hacked medical devices, cyberwarfare, cryptocurrency heists, and other cyber threats are just a keystroke away. Some speculate that cybercriminal activity will represent the greatest transfer of economic wealth in history.

U.S. consumers lost $19.4 billion to cybercriminals last year, according to Symantec’s 2017 Norton Cyber Security Insights Report, and then spent almost 24 hours each dealing with the impact of cybercrime. That amount jumps to $172 billion when you take the rest of the world into account. Cybersecurity incidents now rank as number two on the Allianz (Insurance) Risk Barometer, a report that identifies the most important risk factors for companies. This annual report is based on insight from 1,911 risk experts from 80 countries. The nature of cyber threats is evolving and business interruption is a worldwide concern.

Connected Devices

At the recent annual World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, cybersecurity was a top concern by business and government leaders. There was pressing anxiety about cryptocurrency ecosystems, election security, cyberwarfare, airline computer systems and chips.

And connected products and services are increasing and creating more questions. Researchers forecast that as many as 300 billion items will be connected by 2020 and 500 billion devices by 2030. Innovations including augmented reality, artificial intelligence, and the Internet of Things (IoT) are transforming the global landscape in unprecedented ways.

At CES 2018, companies showcased amazing implementations based on IoT — from smart cities and smart/digital health to smart homes and self-driving vehicles — but how secure are these devices that eat excessive amounts of personal data? Every app and connected device is a potential entry point for cyber-attackers.

As the number of IoT devices balloons, hackers will find new ways to uncover secrets and protocols to access backend services and bypass access controls in data centers; hijack nodes to deny services, demand ransoms, steal data or forge transactions; run unauthorized transactions that could affect patient safety; and new schemes that have not been discovered yet.

Solutions on the Horizon

“Cyberattacks are perceived as the global risk of highest concern to business leaders in advanced economies,” reports WEF in its Global Risks Report 2018. “Cyber is also viewed by the wider risk community as the risk most likely to intensify in 2018.” New risks require new tools and models to help manage and mitigate the impact of a breach before data is stolen or nefarious activities are played out.

A new model for a global security platform is needed that combines governmental and private collaborations to counter these challenges. In January, WEF launched the Global Centre for Cybersecurity to facilitate this public-private cooperation.

How can businesses bake rigorous security into the DNA of their products from the beginning? When it comes to cyber warfare, do we engage in “active defense”? As we work through these issues, ourcommon goal is to continue to confidently harness innovation to impact people, society, and the planet for the greater good.

Susan Schreiner

IoT and Big Data: Where’s the Action?

Susan Schreiner — Mon, 04 Dec 2017 08:27:02 +0000

Words like “smart” and “connected” signal a profound shift in the relationship between consumers and the products they use every day, the way businesses operate and how cities will function. Soon everything will be connected, creating a fusion between the physical and digital worlds.

Words like “smart” and “connected” signal a profound shift in the relationship between consumers and the products they use every day, the way businesses operate and how cities will function. Soon everything will be connected, creating a fusion between the physical and digital worlds.

Convolution of Technologies

Embedded sensors are the eyes and ears of the connected world, feeding the brain of the global economy by receiving continuous data. Sensors at the heart of the Internet of Things (IoT) are linking to cutting edge machine vision, visual recognition, technical infrastructure and cloud services as well as self-driving cars, health monitoring, machinery and even advanced farming technologies. The IoT allows companies to extract data, for example, from fitness bands and smart home devices that can be spun into actionable analytics and insights on the backend.

Sensors and chips from companies like AMD, Intel, NVIDIA and Qualcomm are powering the connected intelligent universe. It is projected there will be 22.5 billion IoT devices in 2021, up from 6.6 billion in 2016, according to BI Intelligence. This is triggering a domino effect in the connected device ecosystem. Companies will spend almost $5 trillion on IoT in the next five years and the proliferation of connected devices and the massive increase in data has started an analytics revolution.

Advances in Artifiicial Intelligence

AI and machine learning are shifting the IoT conversation beyond the technical challenges of connecting billions of devices and towards how smart design, product innovation and new use cases can create unique business and service models. BI Intelligence forecasts there will be $4.8 trillion in IoT investment between 2016 and 2021. AI is shaping the human experience, as new tools are being built that will give one’s senses superpowers. We’re moving beyond Siri or Cortana phone chatbots — as digital assistants and bots are being created to perform all sorts of functions. AI plays a significant role in Natural Language Generation as bots learn to decipher human speech, particularly when humans are pulling together vast amounts of data.

Transforming Fitness and Health Sensors, data, and AI are transforming clinical health care. New tools are shaping the relationship between physicians and patients at home or in the hospital. On another level, Google’s Verily, for instance, aims to make robots better surgical assistants using machine learning and advanced image processing. Miniaturized electronics, low power wireless connectivity and cloud services are enabling the development of connected wearables that monitor health and can produce actionable data for the user, caretaker or clinician. Connected wearables such as cardiac rhythm management devices, ECG monitors, mobile Personal Emergency Response Systems (mPERS), tattoos and wearable computers are already common in the medical, health monitoring and enterprise segments — and are becoming consumerized.

Smart Cities

AI, IoT and other technologies will radically disrupt how cities provide services making life easier and safer for residents. They will remake every aspect of urban life, ranging from monitoring activities like parking occupancy, storm sewer levels, street lighting and smart water systems to improving public safety, transportation, policing, electricity, and how city services are delivered. Cities need to prepare to accommodate the next generation of self-driving vehicles with the necessary infrastructure including road modifications, signage and communications to manage traffic congestion.

While challenges remain, mobile device IoT implementations will generate huge quantities of real-time raw data for advanced analytics. With machine learning, AI and other technologies, the promise includes improved communities.

Susan Schreiner