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Tomorrow's medical breakthrough? You're already wearing it

Maybe that Apple Watch really is more than just a gadget.

Brian Cooley Editor at Large
Brian Cooley is CNET's Editor at large and has been with the brand since 1995. He currently focuses on electrification of vehicles but also follows the big trends in smart home, digital healthcare, 5G, the future of food, and augmented & virtual realities. Cooley is a sought after presenter by brands and their agencies when they want to understand how consumers react to new technologies. He has been a regular featured speaker at CES, Cannes Lions, Advertising Week and The PHM HealthFront™. He was born and raised in Silicon Valley when Apple's campus was mostly apricots.
Expertise Automotive technology, smart home, digital health. Credentials
  • 5G Technician, ETA International
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Brian Cooley
Watch this: Tomorrow's medical breakthrough? You're already wearing it

It turns out the Apple Watch is a pretty mediocre heart rate sensor by medical standards, but researchers at the University of California, San Francisco used an app called Cardiogram with some machine learning to make the Watch a 97 percent accurate detector of one of the leading causes of stroke.

That remarkable bit of bootstrapping points to the broader trend of everyday tech becoming medical gear: Connected thermostats, light switches, voice assistants and cars all have data about our daily patterns that can be turned into wellness information when enough of it is gathered -- what's called "big data" -- and sorted through by machines to spot patterns human observers would likely miss -- AI.

In the big picture this points to a revolution in early detection and malady prevention that may finally shift the bulk of medical expenditures to keeping us well rather than treating our serious illnesses.