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Airpods are an integral part of Apple's future medical ambition. Always in ear Airpods constantly taking your Temp, HR, Glucose, GSR, etc. With the kicker that

Airpods are an integral part of Apple's future medical ambition. Always in ear Airpods constantly taking your Temp, HR, Glucose, GSR, etc. With the kicker that it is only stored locally and securely on your device, all processing done locally via HealthKit. That customized data will change how we think about patient care.

basch 7y ago
>With the kicker that it is only stored locally Do you think most people would want to lose all their data if they lose their device?
- reaperducer 7y ago
  It's certainly possible for the Apple Health data to be backed up to iCloud. I haven't changed devices recently, so I don't know if it is.
  - rgbrenner 7y ago
    Correct... it's backed up to iCloud or on your computer with itunes if you encrypt it.
- abtinf 7y ago
  It has the option to backup to iCloud with end-to-end encryption.
genS3 7y ago
> Always in ear Airpods stopped reading there.
- memetomancer 7y ago
  > stopped reading there. says much more about your limitations than about airpods... ever heard of hearing aids?
  - aguyfromnb 7y ago
    Yes, and people hate them, but there are no alternatives. Why would you want something permanently in your ear to measure heart rate?
    - deleted 7y ago
      [deleted]
    - npo9 7y ago
      You want something in your ears for a majority of the time because they play music and drown out background noise. Gathering health data is just a good secondary benefit.
      - genS3 7y ago
        yeah ok. please never be in power I do not want to live in the matrix. I suppose if apple were developing something to plug in one's anus to measure the quality of fart air and microbiomes you'd buy-in. What a world we living in
    - deleted 7y ago
      [deleted]
deleted 7y ago
[deleted]
qsymmachus 7y ago
> Always in ear What percentage of Airpods owners do you reckon _always_ have them inside their ears?
- maximente 7y ago
  probably pretty high - apparently 17% of people in one survey said they have left them in during sex, so there's that
  - samschooler 7y ago
    Primary source for the 17% number (although dubious considering it was 1,010 people online via Amazon's Mechanical Turk, and to qualify participants were required to be sexually active and enjoy listening to music): https://www.tickpick.com/musics-influence-on-sexual-behaviors/ https://www.tickpick.com/musics-influence-on-sexual-behavior...
  - speleo 7y ago
    I'm going to need sauce on that.
  - crubier 7y ago
    Wtf aha, citation needed!
  - jonny_eh 7y ago
    You need to take them out every 2-4 hours for charging.
    - joezydeco 7y ago
      I've noticed a lot of people wearing just one, my kids included. They explained to me that by alternating earbuds they can wear them almost continually.
      - onlyrealcuzzo 7y ago
        This sounds like the plot to a Dystopian tech movie. Something always in your ear... whispering.
madeofpalk 7y ago
> Airpods are an integral part of Apple's future medical ambition. Always in ear Airpods constantly taking your Temp, HR, Glucose, GSR, etc I don't think there's nearly enough evidence for this to be an _actual_ thing.
dlivingston 7y ago
I effectively exclusively use my AirPods when working out. That alone would skew any medical data dramatically (avg. heart rate, blood pressure, etc.)
- alex-wallish 7y ago
  Wouldn't it be simple to detect that dramatic change and isolate it/ keep it out of averages? I think the fact that people work out in AirPods is a non-issue for this example. If anything, just a way to segment the data and get even more insight.
- mhh__ 7y ago
  That's your problem no? If they were being fancy I'm guessing you could use some buzzwords (AI etc. etc.) to combine the data along with the moisture content around the ear to determine whether someone is exercising automatically. (Assuming they don't already, my phone seems to be able to but not very accurately)
thewileyone 7y ago
That's going to be annoying.
Barrin92 7y ago
>That customized data will change how we think about patient care. People keep repeating this almost like a PR slogan but is there any actual solid evidence that constantly measuring health data has a meaningful impact on average, healthy adults and is a reasonable thing to do? A non-diabetic person does not need to constantly measure their glucose level, and if anything slight anomalies in otherwise asymptomatic people may very well create health scares or overburden the medical system with people getting things checked out that isn't a problem. This is a very real trade-off already present for example when it comes to mammographies, with many studies suggesting the routine screening might be a net negative. The economic incentive for the healthcare industry is very obvious when it comes to putting everyone on 24/7 surveillance, but is there any indication it meaningfully improves the life of individuals in general?
- dragonwriter 7y ago
  > People keep repeating this almost like a PR slogan but is there any actual solid evidence that constantly measuring health data has a meaningful impact on average, healthy adults and is a reasonable thing to do? ISTR some studies that for certain measures, frequent measurement without specific indication of monitoring need tends to drive overtreatment and worse outcomes, not even considering things like mammograms where the measuring actually can contribute to the thing it detects.
- john_minsk 7y ago
  No. And there can't be. There were 0 generations that were able to track their parameters on a constant basis. If over time it is proven that it is useless we can stop doing it, but for now let's at least try to collect such data and make use of it... There is still a problem with this PR, since everyone is talking about that, but technology is nowhere near to deliver on those promises. Hope the hype won't kill off real work in developing good sensors.
m_ke 7y ago
Currently they're just causing a ton of ear infections and hearing problems. https://www.reddit.com/r/airpods/comments/e2gmyw/ear_infection_or_airpods_pro/ https://www.reddit.com/r/airpods/comments/e2gmyw/ear_infecti...

basch 7y ago

>With the kicker that it is only stored locally Do you think most people would want to lose all their data if they lose their device?

reaperducer 7y ago
It's certainly possible for the Apple Health data to be backed up to iCloud. I haven't changed devices recently, so I don't know if it is.
- rgbrenner 7y ago
  Correct... it's backed up to iCloud or on your computer with itunes if you encrypt it.
abtinf 7y ago
It has the option to backup to iCloud with end-to-end encryption.

genS3 7y ago

> Always in ear Airpods stopped reading there.

memetomancer 7y ago
> stopped reading there. says much more about your limitations than about airpods... ever heard of hearing aids?
- aguyfromnb 7y ago
  Yes, and people hate them, but there are no alternatives. Why would you want something permanently in your ear to measure heart rate?
  - deleted 7y ago
    [deleted]
  - npo9 7y ago
    You want something in your ears for a majority of the time because they play music and drown out background noise. Gathering health data is just a good secondary benefit.
    - genS3 7y ago
      yeah ok. please never be in power I do not want to live in the matrix. I suppose if apple were developing something to plug in one's anus to measure the quality of fart air and microbiomes you'd buy-in. What a world we living in
  - deleted 7y ago
    [deleted]

deleted 7y ago

[deleted]

qsymmachus 7y ago

> Always in ear What percentage of Airpods owners do you reckon _always_ have them inside their ears?

maximente 7y ago
probably pretty high - apparently 17% of people in one survey said they have left them in during sex, so there's that
- samschooler 7y ago
  Primary source for the 17% number (although dubious considering it was 1,010 people online via Amazon's Mechanical Turk, and to qualify participants were required to be sexually active and enjoy listening to music): https://www.tickpick.com/musics-influence-on-sexual-behaviors/ https://www.tickpick.com/musics-influence-on-sexual-behavior...
- speleo 7y ago
  I'm going to need sauce on that.
- crubier 7y ago
  Wtf aha, citation needed!
- jonny_eh 7y ago
  You need to take them out every 2-4 hours for charging.
  - joezydeco 7y ago
    I've noticed a lot of people wearing just one, my kids included. They explained to me that by alternating earbuds they can wear them almost continually.
    - onlyrealcuzzo 7y ago
      This sounds like the plot to a Dystopian tech movie. Something always in your ear... whispering.

madeofpalk 7y ago

> Airpods are an integral part of Apple's future medical ambition. Always in ear Airpods constantly taking your Temp, HR, Glucose, GSR, etc I don't think there's nearly enough evidence for this to be an _actual_ thing.

dlivingston 7y ago

I effectively exclusively use my AirPods when working out. That alone would skew any medical data dramatically (avg. heart rate, blood pressure, etc.)

alex-wallish 7y ago
Wouldn't it be simple to detect that dramatic change and isolate it/ keep it out of averages? I think the fact that people work out in AirPods is a non-issue for this example. If anything, just a way to segment the data and get even more insight.
mhh__ 7y ago
That's your problem no? If they were being fancy I'm guessing you could use some buzzwords (AI etc. etc.) to combine the data along with the moisture content around the ear to determine whether someone is exercising automatically. (Assuming they don't already, my phone seems to be able to but not very accurately)

thewileyone 7y ago

That's going to be annoying.

Barrin92 7y ago

>That customized data will change how we think about patient care. People keep repeating this almost like a PR slogan but is there any actual solid evidence that constantly measuring health data has a meaningful impact on average, healthy adults and is a reasonable thing to do? A non-diabetic person does not need to constantly measure their glucose level, and if anything slight anomalies in otherwise asymptomatic people may very well create health scares or overburden the medical system with people getting things checked out that isn't a problem. This is a very real trade-off already present for example when it comes to mammographies, with many studies suggesting the routine screening might be a net negative. The economic incentive for the healthcare industry is very obvious when it comes to putting everyone on 24/7 surveillance, but is there any indication it meaningfully improves the life of individuals in general?

dragonwriter 7y ago
> People keep repeating this almost like a PR slogan but is there any actual solid evidence that constantly measuring health data has a meaningful impact on average, healthy adults and is a reasonable thing to do? ISTR some studies that for certain measures, frequent measurement without specific indication of monitoring need tends to drive overtreatment and worse outcomes, not even considering things like mammograms where the measuring actually can contribute to the thing it detects.
john_minsk 7y ago
No. And there can't be. There were 0 generations that were able to track their parameters on a constant basis. If over time it is proven that it is useless we can stop doing it, but for now let's at least try to collect such data and make use of it... There is still a problem with this PR, since everyone is talking about that, but technology is nowhere near to deliver on those promises. Hope the hype won't kill off real work in developing good sensors.

m_ke 7y ago

Currently they're just causing a ton of ear infections and hearing problems. https://www.reddit.com/r/airpods/comments/e2gmyw/ear_infection_or_airpods_pro/ https://www.reddit.com/r/airpods/comments/e2gmyw/ear_infecti...