Institute For The Future

KNOWME Networks Sends Smart Texts for Health

A group of USC researchers have developed a wearable body area network that can communicate seamlessly with cell phones, with the hope that this sort of sensor network will one day be used to help fight childhood obesity. According to the Los Angeles Times, the system is designed to track what sorts of activities a person has engaged in and if they have been inactive for extended periods of time.

 For example, one person working on the project said she'd hope that:

 

We’d like to be able to ping you and say, ‘You’ve been inactive for six hours, and your friend Courtney is three miles away and running – there’s an activity possibility for you,’

 

USC's researchers are planning on testing the system among 50 obese teens with the hopes that monitoring coupled with gentle reminders will encourage the teens to become more physically active. Though the system sounds like a promising and inventive use of mobile technology, it will probably encounter some resistance among potential users--particularly teens--who might feel that wearing a body area network and receiving a steady stream of texts about their activity levels is more intrusive than helpful. My guess is that these sorts of systems will have more appeal among older consumers who are looking to get healthier but don't always have the time or mental bandwidth to constantly focus on activity levels.

Whatever the case, the study, called the KNOWME Networks study, offers a glimpse into future applications of mobile health. For more of our thoughts on mobile health, check out our previous research here.