Whoop has won over investors and quickly became commonplace in pro sports, with early fans including LeBron James and Michael Phelps, and recently raising a USD 100 million Series E at a USD 1.2 billion valuation. Whoop is a monthly subscription for 24/7 health monitoring across sleep, recovery and strain, including free hardware (Whoop Strap 3.0) and a coaching platform designed to optimize behavior.
Read MoreApple’s Research App will allow anyone to opt into research studies and may help the company cement its place in the health ecosystem in the long run. The new app is a part of Apple’s big push into healthcare. Researchers have made no secret that they see big opportunities to learn about human health through all the data being collected by technology devices, such as Apple’s iPhone or Apple Watch. But rather than doing one-off studies, which Apple has done in the past, the Research App allows the company to operate multiple studies at once for a variety of organizations.
Read MoreGoogle parent company Alphabet will buy Fitbit, putting the tech giant head-to-head with Apple in the fitness tracking and consumer health space. The deal values Fitbit around USD 2.1 billion at a fully diluted equity value.The acquisition makes a lot of sense as Google has spent years trying to break into the wearables market with its Wear OS platform, but it has struggled to make a real impact. Fitbit is offering Google an opportunity to invest even more in Wear OS as well as introduce Made by Google wearable devices into the market.
Read MoreApps rule our lives day-in-and-day-out. They allow us to get a ride on demand, order dinner, and even send out dry cleaning. And for the wellness-minded, apps can transform our workouts, diet, sleep rhythms, and more. They track every bite we eat, every step we take, and every hour we sleep.
Read MoreAccording to a study by Zogby Analytics, 87 per cent of millennial constantly have their smartphone by their side during day and night. Whilst technology has already made an immense impact upon us, smartphones in particular are transforming ourlives. We are turning to our smartphones when we need something, whether it is a forgotten word, a better price, or directions. Customers want instant answers.
Read MoreCombining the success of social networks and fitness, companies like Strava, Freelethics, or Runtastic have accumulated millions of active users and supporting those to live a healthier life. One of their keys to success is the use of gamification, which according to Deterding et al. is defined as the use of game elements in a non-game context. It takes inspiration from Behavioral Economics and plays with certain irrational behaviours of people.
Read MoreBehavioural Economics ("BE") is a step change in our understanding of how people behave; it can be used to transform the way people make economic and personal choices including those related to an organisation’s services. In particular, it challenges the view that people make decisions rationally. According to behavioural economists, Cass Sunstein and Richard Thaler, utilising choice architecture helps organizing the context in which people make decisions. It means reducing choice overload by integrating indirect suggestions and using positive reinforcement towards a favoured outcome.
Read MoreExercise improves many dangerous metabolic, cardiovascular and respiratory conditions and has consequently a favorable impact on mortality. However, in a society where the lifestyle becomes increasingly sedentary, physicians struggle to convince their patients to exercise more. Connected devices and mobile applications combine motivational programs with objective measurements of activity level. In the 2015 IMS report about patient adoption of mobile health, Barbara Spurrier of Mayo Clinic said that “we are trying to integrate mobile health into the lives of people and patients to help empower them in self-management and have the peace of mind to know when to take action”.
Read MoreConnecting devices are the next innovation in the ongoing movement towards a holistic and digitised health system. They are meant to integrate seamlessly with the users’ daily life and making data collection convenient, automatic and seamless. The Internet of Things has shifted the concept of self-measurement to that of self-monitoring and, to that of self-management, writes the Deloitte Center for Health Solutions.
Read MoreThe World Health Organisation ('WHO') defines ”electronic health ('eHealth') as the use of Information and Communication Technology for healthcare purposes“. According to the European Commission eHealth Action Plan 2012-2020, it encompasses a range of services and systems that cover "the interaction between patients and health-service providers, institution-to-institution transmission of data, or peer-to-peer communication between patients and/or health professionals“. eHealth can benefit citizens and patients, professionals, but also organisations and public authorities. When applied effectively, it has the potential to deliver a more personalised and costumer-centred healthcare, which is more targeted and efficient.
Read MoreThere is tremendous potential within the health and fitness market to promote physical activity and to create a fully integrated and holistic customer experience for society, especially to benefit millennials.
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