Apple today publicized that customers in the US can enroll in three health studies via Apple’s research app. The studies for the users include – the Apple Women’s Health Study, the Apple Heart and Movement Study, and the Apple Hearing Study.
Today marks an important moment as we embark on research initiatives that may offer incredible learnings in areas long sought after by the medical community – Jeff Williams, Chief Operating Officer, Apple .
The Women’s Health study draws data from the Cycle Tracking app on watchOS 6 with the aim to improve scientific understanding of menstrual cycles. The Hearing Study examines the impact of sound exposure on hearing health and stress levels. Whereas the Heart and Movement Study use a variety of signals from the watch, including movement and health rate information.
The new Apple Research app builds on the foundational work of CareKit and ResearchKit, first introduced by Apple’s COO Jeff Williams in March 2015. For the study, the researchers over eight months recruited more than 400,000 participants who were equipped with an Apple Watch.
However, the results of the study seemed promising, but they failed to convince cardiologists that Apple Watch, and other wearable devices, can be the right tool for monitoring people for signs of atrial fibrillation.
Earlier this month Alphabet Inc.’s Google tapped the fitness trackers with a US$2.1-billion bid for Fitbit Inc. and said it sees an opportunity to introduce its own wearable devices and invest more in digital health.
The new app can be downloaded today from the App Store.
