Apple proved with the Apple Watch that focusing on health was the right thing to do. If so many smartwatches are sold, it is partly because of these capabilities to measure physical activity, heart rate, and even blood oxygen level. Now it seems that they want to go a step further and work on a system that would allow them to anticipate possible problems of anxiety and depression, even cognitive impairment. Is this possible?
The importance of mental health
Mental health is something very serious, so much so that we should all give it the importance it deserves. Because there are everyday situations that we assimilate as normal and they are not. So it is very easy to reach that point of no return where you end up falling into depression or having very unpleasant anxiety attacks.
Therefore, knowing this, Apple is looking for a way to make the Apple Watch much more than a simple device for the quantification of sports activity and other vital signs. The problem is that talking about health-related problems is not easy. Detecting depression, an anxiety disorder or other cognitive illnesses requires a series of tests by professionals who then compare results and experience to identify what could be happening.
Apple wants to skip those professionals in quotes and that it is your watch and the iPhone that are capable of identifying problems of this type. As I would do it? Well, capturing as much information as possible from the user. For example, the way of speaking with the microphones of the iPhone, also the way of typing with the on-screen keyboard, the possible errors that may or may not be made when doing so and even the content. Also analyzing the expressions of the camera when taking a photo, etc.
Everything would count and be added to the data that the Watch would provide such as activity, heart rate, quality of sleep, way of walking, etc., to try to create patterns common to this type of mental illness or condition.
A tricky function to implement
The idea of an Apple Watch warning you that you could be burned, with anxiety and even depression is still very attractive, but you have to be careful. Because for an effective diagnosis in most situations it would be necessary to have the assessment of an expert or group of experts. So that’s why they have teamed up with the University of California at Los Angeles and with the pharmaceutical company Biogen.
Together they are going to establish a series of studies that would make it possible to compare the results of each user with those of a database that, as it grows, will be more efficient. And it is that the more data, the easier it is to find common patterns that could identify symptoms related to each mental condition or other cognitive impairments.
Of course, we do not believe that Apple promoted the function much , at least first and even less in the plan “it will tell you if you have depression or not.” Because it would be very delicate to do so and it would possibly receive millions of criticisms. But it is possible that he does it in the plan “you could be suffering a situation of emotional alteration” That is, it would be more a warning that something could not go well than a formal statement that you are wrong.
Whatever happens, it is clear that the Apple Watch right now has few rivals in the field of health. On Android there are Garmin smart watches or the many quantification bracelets from various brands. But until more proposals arrive and everything related to Wear OS 2.0 advances. Android users will keep wondering why the Apple Watch is not compatible with the Google system.
