Amid the gaming systems that put you right in the middle of the action, high-def TVs, self-driving cars and top-of-the-line sound systems, one product category is quietly taking over the CES.
Health and fitness devices and applications.
Everyone wants to be healthy (OK, OK, most people want to be healthy, or at least look like they're watching their health). The trend started with mobile monitoring devices, has evolved into fitness bands, smartwatches and smartphone apps, and now even finds itself embedded in everything from gaming devices to cars.
Gary Shapiro, president and CEO of the Consumer Electronics Association, gave a keynote speech at the 2012 mHealth Summit, during which he pointed out that roughly 10 percent of the 3,000 exhibitors at the 2013 International CES were focused on healthcare. One year later, At the 2013 mHealth Summit, CEA researcher Kevin Tillman released a study that indicated, among other things, that three-quarters of all online U.S. consumers own a fitness device, up from 61 percent in 2012.
Now we have this year's CES, a collection of more than 150,000 people surging into Las Vegas this week to see, hear and play with all the latest in consumer electronics goods. Chances are: More than half of them will have healthcare on their minds.
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Last year's show featured a small pavilion of mHealth-related projects in the back part of one conference hall, anchored by booths from Qualcomm Life and UnitedHealth. This year we have a much larger, more interactive Digital Health Pavilion, with exhibitors displaying everything from diabetes monitors to hearing aids to smart pill dispensers. There are even healthcare-specific tablets and laptops and "eyes-on glasses" designed specifically for the clinician.
Wade through the crowds over to the automotive pavilion, and you'll see the latest in automobiles equipped with dashboard computers that can accommodate health and wellness apps, telling a driver whether his or her blood sugar needs to be checked or if the air outside is dangerous for those with asthma. Or how about a new 100-inch television that can access your electronic health record or connect you with a doctor?
Not to be outdone, East West Micro of Hong Kong is displaying a $30,000 Health Smart Watch – made of 18-carat gold and inlaid with 200 diamonds. They also have watches that retail for $49 and $99, by the way.
These exhibitors, and the two-day Digital Health Summit that begins Wednesday, point to the very clear fact that consumer-directed digital healthcare is growing, and the trend is one the wider healthcare industry should embrace. After all, if the average American consumer is interested enough in his or her healthcare to monitor it on a daily basis, he or she should be more than happy to extend that link to the doctor. And the clinic or specialist. And the health plan.
That sounds like a pretty good prescription for success, whether you want the $30,000 smartwatch or not.
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