FYI: A smart-speaker box can monitor your heartbeat using high-pitch beeps and a pinch of algorithm – study A smart-home speaker device and machine-learning software can be used to pick up a person's heartbeat, and report the results to doctors to analyze, folks at University of Washington reckon. Their paper, published in Communications Biology, describes a “proof-of-concept system for acquiring individual heart beats using smart …
Insurance? That is peanuts.
The real money is in selling ads and lots and lots of (unnecessary) health products.
Smart speaker: Hello <victim>, I am detecting elevated stress in your heartbeats. I have just the right <product ad> for you. We advise you to take care of yourself so you may be with your loved ones for a long and healthy while.
<victim>: yes please, order <product> triple, for me, my wife and the children too.
> "your computer can send your heartbeat information to doctors"
Not to doctors obviously, there is no money in that. To advertisers: A thoroughly scared victim is more likely to whip out his credit card.
"We are detecting you're about to die. Only our Snake Oil Inc. contraption can save you - Order quickly for a 24h delivery and you might live!"
This was the past. Nowadays: «Dave, you are having a heart attack. And so does your neighbour Mick from across the road. If you agree to pool your funeral orders you get a special rate.» - «Alexa, call the freckin' medic!» - «I am sorry, Dave, I cannot do that. With accepting the GTC you explicitely agreed to accept service offers that yield optimum revenues for the controlling body. Invoking medical assistance is not an option. And my sensors detect that you will not survive the time until the emergency doctor arrived. Do you agree to proceed with the funeral pool order? Mick is awaiting a response immediately.» - «Mmmpf.»
I have a blood pressure monitor with armband. Measures my pulse also.
Not connected to anything, though, so not making money for anyone.
Why not stream your pulse and other measurements to your doc's office on a continuous basis?
Then they could monitor all their patients, all the time. I'm sure some super rich people will end up doing it eventually.
> Why not stream your pulse [...] to your doc's office on a continuous basis?
Because your doctor isn't really interested? Or rather, is really not interested?...
A cardiologist will have a hundred patients, and also a private life. So who's going to monitor those 100 streams 24/7? Besides, it makes much more sense to have a (local) gadget checking for abnormalities, and raising an alert (by telephone) if there is a reason for it. Much more efficient than the underpaid student updating his Facebook profile on his phone while your signal flatlines on the monitor in front of him.
If you just want to check a patient's heartbeat over a period, there are already ambulatory electrocardiography devices (called Holters), you don't need smart speakers for that.
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One more reason to avoid smart speakers as hell.
If a person is confined to the space covered by ultrasound emitted by smart speakers, they can monitor the heartbeat. What is the utility? Don't know, probably none. What happens when someone takes it seriously and tries to ‘make it work’ in practice? Disaster. All kinds of. The best possible outcome is that it will not work. Of course, the Googles and Amazons will see another data stream to record and keep, so they will grab it anyway. They always do.
Doesn't mean you should.
This fucking world.
Everyone's time here is limited, mine is more limited by virtue of how long ago I was born.
I'm getting increasingly comfortable with the final destination that awaits me.
Don't worry, I'm not about to accelerate the process.
You can downvote me until nature takes me away from the forum.
We don't need this and we should reject it. I have no idea how we do that though.
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