[NEW YORK] Samsung Electronics plans to develop a hub for users to share health data directly with doctors in between visits, stepping up competition in the technology-driven healthcare race.
During appointments, doctors often share recommendations or fitness suggestions – but it’s not always easy to remember the guidance. In an interview, Samsung health executive Dr Hon Pak said the company is working on tools to cut down that disconnect, port data collected on watches into a central location and nudge users to stay on top of goals provided by doctors.
“There are a lot of innovations out there but it’s siloed,” Pak said. “We think there’s a responsibility and a potential for bringing the experience into an ecosystem so that the users have a more simple experience rather than having 10 different apps to manage your condition.”
That new hub will not launch for a while, but the company on Monday (Jun 16) announced new features for its smartwatches. The enhancements, coming as part of a One UI 8 software update, will include tools for measuring antioxidant levels and vascular load as well as a running coach and sleep management upgrades. The features will be available on last year’s Samsung Galaxy Watch models, and the bedtime coach tool will come to the Galaxy Watch 5 and more recent devices.
They will launch as part of a beta programme this month in the US and South Korea.
To check antioxidant levels on a new-generation Samsung watch, users will be able to press their fingertips against the sensors on the device’s back. If needed, the feature can then share suggested nutritional changes – such as eating antioxidant-rich foods such as berries – to improve readings.
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The vascular load feature measures pulse waves while the user sleeps to determine how much pressure they are putting on their arteries. The aim is to better identify the risk for a stroke and other cardiovascular issues.
The new running feature helps people train for races after analysing baseline running performance. There’s also an enhancement that suggests to a user when they should go to sleep based on data it has analysed over the past several days.
Smartwatches, which were originally intended as companion devices for viewing smartphone notifications and using apps, are increasingly blurring the lines with sports watches and in some cases medical-grade wearables. Other brands, including Apple, Garmin and Alphabet’s Google, have made strides in measuring heart conditions and sleep.
The shift towards putting more health features in wearables dovetails with other trends, Pak said, including increases in chronic diseases, workforce shortages and rising healthcare costs. That has led to more people seeking care from home. “The burden is now on the patients and the families that have to provide that care,” he said. “So with that, we have to be in the home.”
Samsung has about 68 million monthly active customers using its health platform, Pak said. More health sensors will come to Samsung devices in the future, including earbuds, he added.
The South Korea-based technology giant remains at work on features related to blood pressure tracking – without a cuff for calibration – and non-invasive glucose tracking. But those enhancements remain years away. BLOOMBERG
