Apple reportedly working on iPhone features that may help diagnose depression
The company is looking to identify signs of depression, autism and cognitive decline in iPhone user data, according to The Wall Street Journal.
The iPhone could become a cognitive diagnostic tool.
Apple is working with the University of California, Los Angeles, and pharmaceutical company Biogen to develop iPhone features that could help diagnose both depression and cognitive decline, The Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday.
In documents and interviews obtained by the Journal, Apple is looking to build a reliable detection algorithm by identify signals found in iPhone users' biometric data, including sleep patterns, mobility and the way you type on your iPhone. That algorithm, Apple hopes, could become the basis for new iPhone features.
Apple's code name for the UCLA project is "Seabreeze," the Journal reported. For the Biogen project, the code name is "Pi."
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Apple's other brain-related research partnership seeks to create an algorithm to detect childhood autism by culling data from the iPhone's camera and analyzing kids' data, according to the Journal. That partnership is reportedly with Duke University.
Apple didn't immediately respond to CNET's request for comment.
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