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Wearable tech initiative for mhealth launched by team of doctors

Julie Campbell | September 22, 2014

The hope of this effort is to be able to bring meaningful health data through these devices.

While wearable tech has been gradually rising in popularity, many believe that it wasn’t until the recent Apple Watch unveiling that this type of device was catapulted into the mainstream spotlight.

That said, even before that time, a team of doctors had started a new effort to make them practical for mhealth.

The wearable tech industry specifically for activity and sports trackers is expected to reach $1.4 billion within the upcoming two years . This will allow for a tremendous collection of activity data. A team of doctors feels that this presents a massive opportunity for leveraging that data to develop resources that will help people to be able to make meaningful decisions with regards to their health care. The team is working under the name Vivametrica.

Vivametrica is aiming to develop a wearable tech based analytics platform that will be a first of its kind.

Wearable Tech - mhealth data This platform for wearables will be meant for enterprises, health care providers, and patients, alike. Its development is based on several years of clinical research that connects health risks with various types of activities.

The mobile wearable device being produced by Vivametrics is operating system agnostic, which means that it will be compatible with smartphones regardless of whether they run on iOS, Android, BlackBerry, Windows Phone, or any other operating system. This was because the team was seeking to take a standardized approach to the collection and management of the data. The goal was to help to span the gap that currently exists between current wearable fitness apps and actual health data upon which specific action can be taken.

The Vivametrics company has every intention of using wearable tech to be able to provide improvements in the areas of credible, personalized assessment, and research based analytics. The team is made up of health, medicine, and business experts that include: Dr. Richard Hu (the company’s CEO and founder), Dr. Christy Lane (the company’s COO and co-founder), Dr. Matthew Smuck (the company’s scientific advisor and cofounder), and Scott Valentine (the company’s president).

Wearable technology will need to comply with data protection laws in the UK

Rebecca | July 1, 2014

A watchdog group has pointed out that wearables will need to adhere to the same regulations as other gadgets.

The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) in the United Kingdom has now confirmed that the collection and use of personal data that is obtained through wearable technology devices is subject to the data protection laws that are in place in the country.

The watchdog has stated that everything from smartwatches to Google Glass will be required to comply.

All forms of wearable technology will need to adhere to the regulations as laid out in the Data Protection Act (DPA) in the United Kingdom, said the group in its recent announcement. It explained its statement within a blog post, where it specified that people who are using wearables on their own person and who are using the data collected for their own purposes are not likely to be in conflict with the rules in the DPA.

Wearable technology used for domestic and personal purposes is exempt from the DPA regulations.

Wearable Technology - UK Data Laws Andrew Paterson, the senior technology from the ICO went on to explain that “if you were to one day decide that you’d like to start using this information for other purposes outside of your personal use, for example to support a local campaign or to start a business, then this exemption would no longer apply.”

Organizations who have been – or who intend to – use wearables for the collection and processing of personal information will nearly always need to have to look to the Act to ensure that they are in compliance. It means that they will need to ensure that they are processing the information that they have collected through the use of those devices is in compliance with the DPA.

Among the regulations outlined for the use of information gleaned through wearable technology use is that the individuals affected must be informed about the way in which their personal data is being collected, as well as how it is being used. It must be made certain that only the data that is adequate, relevant, and not excessive is taken, and that it is stored in a secure location from which it is deleted once there is no more requirement to use it, said Paterson’s post.