Yo,
Hope everyone had a good weekend! Thanks to those who corrected me on Friday, the Home Alone character’s name is Marv, not Marty. I even watched to movie just to double check. Just proof that you shouldn’t use me as a reliable source.
If you watched the World Cup Final on Sunday, I’d recommend never watching another soccer game ever again, because that was the best soccer game I’ve ever seen. The hospitals in Argentina better start hiring here soon, because I’d guess there will be a lot of babies coming up in September.
Alright, let’s plug in.
Some Background
The software engineers at Google, Microsoft, Sony, Amazon, etc. are good, but not that good. Now that’s somewhat a hot take but I’ll explain.
I recently did a deep dive into the glamorous world of plugins and extensions. What is that?
Well, these plugins and extensions essentially bridge the gap between form and function. They’re software or hardware that can add new functions to a host without altering the host program itself.
AKA they pickup where the Google and Microsoft engineers left off. For example:
- A Roku or Firestick add functionality to a TV that isn’t a Smart TV.
- Flash drives, if you can remember what those are, increase the storage of computers that don’t have enough. (Is this what the Cloud is now? I don’t use the Cloud so I’m not sure. Lmk.)
- The Capital One Shopping extension will automatically search for promo codes to make sure you get the best price. Something Chrome won’t do on its own. I use this to make my Capital One daddy proud.
Think of it like a mutualistic relationship. The plugin will add functionality and draw users at no cost to the host. In this case, Google can be the shark and the extensions can be the remora.
Now, that’s not to say the engineers working at these big companies aren’t capable of making these features (me slowly walking back my take), it’s just probably not worth their time and resources.
They’re focused on the larger product, not these niche individual cases.
Let’s keep this info in our back pocket for now.
The new tech in town
Bio wearables are booming. It seems like everyone has one now, whether it’s an Apple watch, a fitness tracker for running, or even glucose monitors for people with diabetes. It’s rare that you meet someone who doesn’t own a bio wearable (I am one of those rare people).
And it seems as though we’re just getting started. Apple watch sales seem to be growing exponentially, and I suspect the same is true with the other brands as well.
Now, the utility of these bio wearables comes from the data that the few biosensors in the device provide
Basically, a light sensor, a gyroscope, a thermometer, and a pressure sensor are what generates all the data you see.
The light sensor helps measure the blood oxygen levels, the pressure sensor measures heart rate and blood pressure, so on and so forth.
But there’s so much more we could know.
But Apple engineers aren’t all that either
I’m not sure if they just haven’t gotten there of if there’s some sort of limitation that I can’t see, but it seems to me like the plugin/extension market for bio wearables is wide open. More open than Dominos on Pizza Fridays.
Sure, tech is just breaking into healthcare, and sure there may be some data privacy obstacles, but there are a lot of metrics that could be tracked that aren’t available yet. Those four sensors alone, could generate more data, and tell you more about your body than you care to know.
A few ideas, from matt
- Caffeine sensor: With the light sensor/receptor and the pressure gauge you could easily measure caffeine levels in the blood – it has a spectrometry peak around 275 nm. Not sure about you, but I think this would be cool to see. And I know it’s possible because I built one in college.
- AI Recommended Fitness: Ya’ll saw what ChatGPT could do, so just imagine what AI could do when it knows your key health metrics. Exercise regularly but have trouble losing weight? Have AI use your metrics to recommend a new workout routine and use the change in biometrics as feedback.
- Breathalyzer: The tech is there, I’m just not sure how you would put it on a watch and how accurate the data would be. Like you’d have to breath on your watch…not sure.
And there’s much more than these. I’m sure over the next several years, there will be features and applications on these wearables that will make you think “why didn’t I think of that”.
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Closing Remarks
People have carved out millions making, and rolling up, groups of plugins and extensions, and I don’t see how it would be any different for a bio wearable. Like a computer, it’s a new piece of hardware that needs some software.
Remember that saying “follow the money”, well the money continues to flow into wearable smart technology.
I’ve already talked about how healthcare is ripe for disruption and decentralization, and it truly seems like artificial intelligence, bio wearables, and tech are all emerging at the perfect time to create something truly personalized.
Whether that comes in the form of an app, or a plugin, or is something only Apple can make, I’m not sure.
‘Til Friday.
from, matt
