What will the future of activity monitoring bring? What are some new and novel applications? Where is there potential for new commercial partnerships and collaborations? In this invited presentation, I explore how we might interact with movement-tracking sensors in the future and consider novel relationships that cross design, data, functionality, experience, and even species.

1. The Future of Activity Monitoring:
Innovating Beyond
Steps, Sleep, and Speed
Carol Torgan, PhD, FACSM
ICAMPAM Limerick, Ireland Summer 2015
caroltorgan.com @ctorgan
© Carol Torgan, Ph.D. 2015

2. The future of activity monitoring may be very different
than what you’re anticipating …

3. Looking to the future:
Arts
Smart Watches and ResearchKit
Animals

4. Arts:
Movement & Music

5. www.spotify.com/us/running/
Spotify music streaming service
App uses phone accelerometer to detect user’s pace
Selects music with matching tempo
If pace changes, song changes
Musicians creating songs that can adapt to different paces
Movement: Music Integration

6. “A global collaboration harnessing the power of music for
health.”
Platform to map music characteristics to real-time biometrics
Pair tracker data (steps, HR, sleep) and music-streaming choices
Track how music might interact with body (better sleep, more focus)
http://thesyncproject.com/ Image courtesy of Philippe Put on Flickr
Collaborators
Scientists
Musicians and music companies
Device makers
Patients and advocacy groups
Sync Project

7. Rhythmic auditory stimulation (RAS) metronome beats to facilitate gait
(increase tempo 5-10% above preferred walking cadence)
François, C, et al. Front Psychol. 2015; 6: 475 (review), Cha Y et al. J Phys Ther Sci. 2014 Apr;26(4):479-82
Hausdorff JM al et al Eur J Neurosci. 2007 Oct;26(8):2369-75, Arias P et al PLoS One. 2010 Mar
22;5(3):e9675
Music and Gait
Parkinson’s: gait speed, stride length,
swing time, stride-to-stride variability,
Freezing of gait (FOG)
Stroke: gait velocity, cadence,
symmetry, stride length
Image courtesy of Yulya Balaeva on Flickr

8. tempo :: pace interaction
Does music impact gait variables “in the wild”?
Can we prescribe music to improve gait?
Can music choices predict health issues?
Arts

9. Smart Watches
&
ResearchKit

10. Digital Crown navigation without obstructing view
Force Touch screen senses force, light tap vs. deep press
Taptic Engine “intimate” taps on wrist for alerts or notifications
www.apple.com/watch
Apple watch

11. Apple watch
• Heart rate sensor – infrared and visible-light LEDs and
photodiodes “looks and acts like a pulse oximeter”
• 3D accelerometer, 3D gyroscope
• Future “according to sources” BP monitoring, sleep tracking,
eventually blood glucose tracking
www.apple.com/watch/technology/ https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204666
www.chipworks.com/en/technical-competitive-analysis/resources/blog/inside-the-apple-watch-technical-
teardown (image from Chipworks) www.ifixit.com/Teardown/Apple+Watch+Teardown/40655

12. Apple watch: prelim data
Hello Heart app for managing blood pressure
Data of 3,000 users with watch + iphone vs. iphone alone
2.5x more people opted into daily reminders to check BP
67% more medical data added (drugs, lab results)
(data provided by Hello Heart)
www.buzzfeed.com/stephaniemlee/this-heart-health-app-is-seeing-big-usage-on-the-apple-watch#.jlD3V5z49
https://helloheartapp.com/blog/apple-watch-heart-health-stats/
“We’ve heard of people taking their
blood pressure in the bath, after
gym practice – places they don’t
take their phone to.”
- Maayan Cohen, co-founder and CEO of
Hello Heart, to Buzzfeed

13. “More often than not, after testing a smartwatch for
a long period of time, I find I look forward to taking
the thing off my wrist — to not think about charging
it, to not wonder if it looks totally dorky, to be free of
the buzzes and taps and pings and chimes.”
– Lauren Goode, Re/code, June 5, 2015
http://recode.net/2015/06/05/you-dont-need-a-smartwatch-at-least-not-yet/

14. Location, location, location (wrist vs. pocket)
Watch to phone handoff
Design, ease of use: new gestures
Behavior change?
Intimacy, invisibility
Status vs. stigma
Smart watches

15. May 14, 2015

16. ResearchKit: Researchers
Development platform – open source – for conducting research
Researchers/developers create apps that use smartphone
features
Customizable modules for consent flows, surveys, active tasks
Can use accelerometer, gyroscope, GPS, microphone, camera
Can pull in HealthKit data (fitness trackers, Bluetooth BP cuff)
Apple requires independent ethics review board approval
Steps to ensure data security and privacy
www.apple.com/researchkit https://developer.apple.com/healthkit/

17. ResearchKit Active Tasks (2015-05-26) http://researchkit.org/docs/docs/ActiveTasks/ActiveTasks.html
ResearchKit: Active Tasks

18. MyHeart Counts Heart health
Share the Journey Breast cancer
Asthma Health Asthma
GlucoSuccess Diabetes
Parkinson mPower Parkinson’s disease
Apps at March 2015 launch
www.apple.com/pr/library/2015/03/09Apple-Introduces-ResearchKit-Giving-Medical-Researchers-the-
Tools-to-Revolutionize-Medical-Studies.html

19. ResearchKit: Participants
• Choose studies you want to participate in
• Download app, give e-consent
• Complete surveys or tasks from smartphone
• Control what information you provide
• No travel required
• Partner in the research
Image from http://parkinsonmpower.org/

20. ResearchKit: mPower for Parkinson’s
Univ of Rochester, Sage Bionetworks (non-profit)
Understand why people with PD have variations in symptoms
Surveys, collect and track health & symptoms of PD progression
Use phone sensors: dexterity, balance, gait
http://parkinsonmpower.org

21. Screenshots from mPower app captured June, 2015

22. ResearchKit
BYOD (bring your own device) research
PROS
Clinical trial awareness, accessibility
Gather data on large scale Enrolled > 60k people in 5 apps in wks
Multiple time points = continuously, hourly, daily (vs. monthly visits)
Participants learn how research is done
Creation of “data commons”
CONS
“Informed” e-consent?
Subject bias? (must own smartphone)
Data accuracy? (device and user)
NEXT
Integrate DNA data
More integration with sensors
Photo courtesy of Open-arms on Flickr

23. Animals

24. Global market expected to reach $2.6 billion by 2025
Wearable Technology for Animals 2015-2025:
Technologies, Markets, Forecasts – IDTechEx
www.idtechex.com/research/reports/wearable-technology-for-animals-2015-2025-technologies-
markets-forecasts-000391.asp Image: http://wonderwoof.com/ (Bowtie Device)
www.ecouterre.com/wearable-tech-market-for-pets-expected-to-reach-2-6-billion-by-2025/
“Time to cash out on your
investments in human-focused
wearables
and invest in ones for
the four-legged variety.”
– Bridgette Meinhold, Ecouterre
Animals

25. “Create a profile with your dog's type and feeding schedule, then
attach the lightweight pedometer to its collar. When you come
back from work, you'll be able to see whether he's gotten the
exercise he needs, shown as both a step count, and
‘frolicking index’ built from his personalized profile.”
http://www.japantrendshop.com/dog-pedometer-from-takara-tomy-p-504.html

26. Cows: beef and dairy production
3-axis accelerometer, magnetometer on collar
track movement, infer feeding behavior, predict when in heat or sick
Sense-T Pasture Predictor: weather forecasts, rainfall events, past
climate records, real-time soil moisture to forecast pasture growth
Help farmers make decisions about when to irrigate, how much fertilizer
to use, when and where to move grazing cattle
Maximize productivity, efficiency
Minimize environmental impact
www.sense-t.org.au/projects-and-research/past-projects#Beef

27. Wireless Rumen Bolus
Device permanently placed in animals’ rumen (1st part of stomach)
Ruminant animals include cows, buffalo, goats, sheep, camels
Detects temp, fertility, location (“prevent cattle rustling”)
(video on next page)
Wandering Shepherd, http://wanderingshepherd.com/

28. Oysters!
https://twitter.com/DrSarz/status/555250139510480896

29. OysTag Aquaculture Biosensors Project
Oyster: Heart rate, temp, feeding, water column position, shell gape
Environment: Water temp, salinity, light level
Tagged animals are sentinels for commercial farmed oysters
University of Tasmania, CSIRO Integrated Sustainable Aquaculture Production
www.csiro.au/en/Research/DPF/Areas/Autonomous-systems/Mapping/Oysters
Real time data on how react to environment
Predict growth rate, harvest time
Minimize environmental impact, energy use
Algorithms to predict future

30. Bees: Swarm Sensing
Colony Collapse Disorder
~30% of the world’s crops rely on pollination
Micro-sensors on thousands of honey bees in Tasmania
RFID sensors record when insects pass checkpoints
3-D imaging of how insects move through landscape
Behavior change = environmental change > look for cause
May use on fruit flies, mosquitoes
www.csiro.au/en/Research/BF/Areas/Protecting-Australias-agricultural-industries/Robot-
technology/Swarm-sensing (image)
www.vale.com/EN/aboutvale/news/Pages/projeto-itv-monitora-abelhas-microssensores-concorre-
premio-australia.aspx

31. Image: www.csiro.au/en/Research/BF/Areas/Protecting-Australias-agricultural-industries/Robot-technology/Swarm-sensing

32. Animal tracking
Pets
Livestock
Gaming industry
Wild animals
Endangered species
Work animals
Zoo animals
Diagnosis & treatment, location/migration, training,
disease transmission, breeding, food production
Organism : Environment Interactions
IoT Incorporation

33. Future
intimate + individual
invisible
integrated + interconnected
immediate + infer future

34. Disclaimers
The products and tools shown are for illustrative and educational purposes only.
I do not endorse or recommend any commercial products, processes, or services.
This presentation is based on an invited talk given at the
International Conference on Ambulatory Monitoring
of Physical Activity and Movement (ICAMPAM)
www.ismpb.org/2015-limerick
© Carol Torgan, Ph.D. 2015

35. Carol Torgan, Ph.D., FACSM
Kinetics Consulting
carol@caroltorgan.com
Twitter @ctorgan
full list of references and resources:
caroltorgan.com/activity-monitoring-future
wearable tech board:
http://pinterest.com/caroltpin/