Incredible health gadgets are straight out of sci-fi movies
- From: News Corp Australia Network
- February 05, 2014
AS Google gets set to release contact lenses that monitor your health through you studying your tears we take a look at the health technologies we have vs. the sci-fi gadgets we wish we had.
Even by Google's standards of self-driving cars and smart glasses, a contact lens that monitors your health through studying your tears sounds more fiction than science.
Take a look at some of the incredible new technology that is set to change the way we look at our health vs. the health technology we wish we had.
Google contact lenses (above)
In a sign of the growing mHealth - or mobile health - sector, Google recently announced that it is testing a smart contact lens that measures glucose levels in tears using a tiny chip and miniature sensors.
"It's still early days for this technology, but we've completed multiple clinical research studies which are helping to refine our prototype," Google says in its blog.
"We hope this could some day lead to a new way for people with diabetes to manage their disease."
Smart contact lenses, like the Google solution, are not a new idea. Back in 2008 researchers from the University of California developed a lens that contained conductive wires and could be used in diagnosing conditions such as glaucoma.
But the speed in which the mHealth sector is growing means mobile health solutions are increasingly shifting out of the research lab and into the hands of everyday consumers.
Israeli Smart Shoes
The Future of Wearable Tech report, released last month by PSFK Labs and Intel, estimates that by 2018 wearable devices will evolve from mere activity trackers to health sensors embedded in the body.
An example of how smart devices are being used in the medical field is a project by an Israeli company that is seeking crowd-funding to create a smart shoe that automatically prevents an elderly person from falling. Falls are cited as the No. 1 cause of injury and death among the elderly in the US and cost $30 billion a year in medical costs, a figure which explains why the Israeli smart shoe is just one of at least eight fall-preventing technology projects currently under development.
Miscrosoft's smart mood-soothing earbuds
Microsoft has been working with the University of Virginia Centre for Wireless Health on earbuds that monitor the wearer's mood and pick a song based on their emotional state. The earbuds would play soothing music if it detected the person was angry or upset, and use the data to generate a health diary.
Motorola has developed a FDA-approved pill which reacts with the acid in a person's stomach to produce a signal that, as a password replacement, could be used to activate devices such as a smartphone, computer or car.
There is increasing evidence Apple is moving into mHealth, as illustrated by designer Todd Hamilton in his mock up of what an iWatch might look like. The hiring of medical sensor experts Nancy Dougherty and Ravi Narasimhan has fuelled rumours Apple is working on an iWatch which, when or if it is released, will be a tool for mobile health analysis.
What the future could look like
Juniper Research analyst Anthony Cox, in a blog on Google's contact lenses, writes mHealth devices will have an impact of a magnitude that is generally underestimated: "Eventually mHealth will influence healthcare practices and everyday lives in ways that we cannot even foresee now."
"Lower chip set and computing costs, and interest from players like Google, mean that widespread use of mobile networks and devices in the healthcare sector is around the corner," he says.
If science fiction is anything to go by the sky is the limit for the future of health technology. Here are some of the niftier inventions we've seen that would be life-changing if they hit the shelves.
Health pods - Elysium (2013)
An in-home complete health tool kit, the machine looks like a MRI screening pod but by using DNA technology it can diagnose and heal all injuries and disease - making the residents of Elysium virtually immortal.
Will we see this technology in the near future? Doubtful, but while we can't magically rebuild people, we can use genetic scanning to identify potential problems before they occur.
Robotic body parts - Star Wars (1977)
An obvious inclusion into any list of futuristic health technology, robotic limbs could help morph humans into the half humans, half robots.
Will this technology be available in the near future? While robots could be taking over the workforce, it's safe to say they're still a little while off taking over our bodies. Last year a paralysed woman was able to control a robotic arm with her mind but scientists are yet to attach whole robotic limbs.
Brain Erasers - Men in Black (1997)
The film Men In Black first lent the idea that government officials could simply 'erase' what someone had seen using a handheld device that shoots out a bright light. We think it could work in a broader sense, say, if you wish you could un-watch a terrible movie, or forget you'd ever met an ex-partner.
Will we see this technology in the near future? While brain research is becoming more and more advanced we're still quite a way off targeting specific memories with the use of an outside object.
Teleporters - Star Trek
Okay so this would be the ultimate in health technology. Saving hours spent in ambulances and hospital waiting rooms a sick person could be immediately teleported to the care of a doctor. Let's not forget either how lovely it would be to bypass that peak-hour traffic on our way to work ...
Will we see this technology in the near future? Probably not.
Time Machines - Source Code
Now really, no one would get even need health technology if they could go back in time and stop themselves from getting sick, would they?
Don't hold your breath on this one though.