You might recognize Conrad’s name, since he directs Google X’s life sciences division. Main difference between this newly developed band and the company’s Android Wear platform is that the ex- is meant for medical use. Now, Google has debuted (via Bloomberg), a new health-tracking wristband capable of monitoring heart rate, heart rhythm, skin temperature, and other useful information such as light exposure and noise levels… Bloomberg earlier reported the news.
Advertisement
Google works on a lot of mad projects outside of mobile, like its Loon balloons that deliver internet access to undeveloped areas. By wearing the device and living life as normally as possible, patients will return critical info to their physicians without having to actually go to see them. It wouldn’t be marketed as a consumer device, Andy Conrad, the head of the life sciences team at Google, said.
For now, Google is testing the device and eyeing regulatory approvals. In order to accept wearables, physicians need devices with medical-grade sensors that take precise readings, critics have said.
The wristband doesn’t have an official name, as Google doesn’t plan to make this available to average consumers, but it will hopefully be a great future asset to the medical industry. The company is working with medical partners to refine the user interfaces of the software and the analytics that support the system, the spokesperson said. In theory, this would also allow more people to get in contact with specialists or researchers who are inaccessible to their current location.
But the company stressed it has teams in place to ensure privacy and security.
Google X Laboratories are not the first attempt to join the ranks of medical tech developers. Last September, Calico announced a partnership with the biopharmaceutical firm AbbVie to pour up to $1.5 billion into a research facility focused on fighting age-related diseases.
Advertisement
