Are Wristbands Passé? Keep An Eye On The Wearables Revolution
By Megan Williams, contributing writer
Even in the healthcare space, where innovative applications of mHealth are far from uncommon, the discussion of wearables generally centers on wristbands and watches. A recent event in Finland, however, is pushing us all to look beyond that.
Slush
Slush, in its seventh year, assembled 15,000 participants (on top of 1,700 tech startups, and 800 curious investors) and centered wearables in its most recent iteration. Reaching beyond the typical wrist-orientation, visitors saw wearables take the form of the somewhat familiar necklaces and rings, but also pacifiers and soap, according to mHealth News.
Spokesperson Shubham Issar discussed the potential of SoaPen, a solution designed to encourage children to wash their hands: “We believe that a serious problem can be solved through a simple and fun solution. Our focus is to reduce infant mortality rates and the spread of disease by promoting the habit of hand washing with soap among children. SoaPen taps into the power of the two-directional awareness flow between adults and children all over the world, with the aim to reach as many hands as fast as possible.”
Connecting Babies And Doctors
Another child-oriented solution, Khushi Baby, stores children’s immunization records and incorporated near field communication (NFC) to smartphones where it can be accessed by providers and stored in cloud solutions. Ruchit Nagar said in a UNICEF press release: “The Khushi Baby system enables access to culturally appropriate wearable digital medical records, even in the most remote and isolated areas. We believe in tracking each child's immunization to the last mile, and … we look to expand from monitoring the vaccination progress of 1,000 children in 100 villages to a larger beneficiary base in areas beyond India where our digital system can streamline access and delivery to healthcare. We also look forward to building our system to serve broader populations and medical applications, moving soon to a wider focus on a continuum of maternal and child healthcare.”
Growing mHealth Beyond Today’s Boundaries
The importance of moving wearable technology beyond fitness trackers and into fields with more pressing needs (like the well-being of mothers and children across the world) was front and center. The co-lead and co-founder of the UNICEF Innovation Fund discussed the Wearables for Good challenge and its focus on adapting to “low tech and unconnected environments.” Denise Gershbein, creator of frog (a global design and strategy firm), stated, “We wanted to elevate wearable and sensor technology in a way that moves beyond fitness trackers on the wrist and towards improving the lives of mothers and children across the world.”
For IT solutions providers, staying connected with events like these will be essential as mHealth continues to mature as a healthcare sector.