Earlier this year, Apple
announced the launch of a radical software development platform without much
fanfare. This was the unveiling of the Apple CareKit - a new software framework
that helps developers build apps and software focused on healthcare. Following
this announcement, a number of developers actually started designing relevant
Apps. Here are just a few:
A diabetes-management App.
It helps track food & medication intake as well as activity. Available for
the Apple Watch as well!
An App for the monitoring,
treatment and medication of depression. Helps to diagnose mental health
problems and track patient progress.
An infant-care App that
covers feeding, sleeping and nappy cycles for a new born in an attempt to make
the first three months a tad less hellish!
These were the first of
the lot to come rolling out after the announcement. However, now that the
CareKit has been made open source, you can expect to see a whole lot of apps
come out in the days to come!
The CareKit isn't really for consumers - in the conventional sense. What I mean is that consumers like
you and me won't use the CareKit itself. Rather, they will use Apps that have
been built using the CareKit framework. In developer terms, the Apple CareKit
is a SDK Platform or a Software Development Kit. This 'kit'essentially contains
the building blocks that helps developers quickly and efficiently put together
healthcare applications.
One example Apple offers
is an upcoming app called EpiWatch, which allows you to send a notification to
a friend of relative when a seizure is imminent. Like the three other Apps we
saw above, the possibilities are limited only by the imagination of developers,
which is one of Apple's strong suits.
The bigger benefit actually lies
below the radar. What SDK's like the Apple CareKit can actually enable is a
semblance of standardization across all the data that is likely to be
generated. Different manufacturers are busy putting out different Apps and
wearables designed to simplify user lives. However, unless a major player like
Apple (hopefully Samsung is listening!) steps in, there is little chance that
the data can be generated in a standardized manner. With the CareKit, that
dream will come true – at least for devices running on the iOS platform!
In the Big Data Sense,
this could prove to be really useful. Apple has a huge installed base of loyal
users, and any data they generate may potentially help in formulating medical
treatments. Assuming Privacy concerns are taken care of of course!
So stay tuned to this
space on more as it happens!
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