Samsung detailed plans to create an open platform for developing sensors for wearables and a cloud service aimed at tracking a person's health in real time at an event held in San Francisco Wednesday. The initiative will start with a modular wristband reference design called Simband that tracks heart rate, blood pressure but could expand into other devices and locations on the body. The idea is to let developers play with the components in hopes of driving adoption of the platform.
Young Sohn, a Samsung executive explained the concept of the Simband wearable wristband that will contain a variety of sensors (it sounds like one might pick and choose the sensors) and the corresponding cloud platform, dubbed SAMI that holds a person's health data and keeps it safe. Samsung launched this vision with a partnership with UCSF and IMEC, a European nanotech and chip research consortium.
The high-minded idea is to take advantage of better sensor technology and data processing to help people understand exactly what's happening with their body at any point in the day. The more practical focus of the project is tied to the increasing number of aging citizens in many first-world countries tied to the amount those countries are spending on healthcare. How can Samsung, and tech firms get a piece of that pie? Tech firms have seen this as an area of opportunity for over a decade, but with smaller sensors, mobile connectivity and the cloud, fielding a consumer-friendly technology monitoring solution is both easier and cheaper.
The big Simband unveil
The wristband has several bells and whistles, such as a "shuttle battery" that attaches to the device via a magnet and charges the device while you sleep. The point is you can charge it without taking it off. An EKG sensor that measures heart rate and detects blood pressure is included, with more sensors to come. Samsung is hoping the open approach helps it get new sensors on board. The wristband also has Wi-Fi and Bluetooth so it can have instant access to the cloud.
We'll update the story with more information as it becomes available.