Apple is reportedly building technology to help diagnose depression and cognitive decline.
As The Wall Street JournalThe Wall Street Journal reports, the digital tools—ultimately algorithms—aim to collect user data on mobility, physical activity, sleep patterns, typing behavior, and more to reliably detect signs of specific conditions.
This appears to be a continuation of Apple’s recent partnerships with the University of California, Los Angeles, and pharmaceutical company Biogen Inc. The three-year UCLA project, codenamed “Seabreeze,” studies stress, anxiety, and depression; Biogen’s “Pi” project—announced in January and launched this week—covers mild cognitive impairment, the Journal says.
Apple’s health work has traditionally focused on its smartwatches, which let wearers track their sleep, check their heart rate, start a mindfulness session, record their menstrual cycle, even set up a handwashing timer. but this work turns the spotlight on iPhone data, the Journal notes, citing “people familiar with the plans.”
Still in the early stages, the projects are being kept tightly under wraps. Apple and UCLA did not immediately respond to PCMag’s query. A Biogen representative declined to comment, instead pointing to a January announcement and the official Intuition study website, where folks can download the accompanying iPhone app to enroll.
The goal of these sorts of detection tools, the Journal reports, is to enable professionals to intervene early and prevent adverse outcomes. It’s like giving someone a front-row seat to your brain’s activity, without having to pay for therapy. If successful, Apple’s algorithms would run on devices without sending data to the company’s servers, according to documents seen by the Journal
That, however, requires a level of consumer trust that Apple is struggling to maintain following controversy over its planned anti-child pornography program. Revealed this summer, the system would help crack down on online child porn stored in iCloud accounts. But rather than scan Apple’s own servers for inappropriate content, the company proposed a different approach that relies on the consumer’s own iPhone to flag child sexual abuse images uploaded to the cloud—a method pro-privacy groups said paves the way for wide-scale surveillance.
With the launch of iOS 15 this week, meanwhile, iPhone users can download and store verifiable health records, including COVID-19 vaccinations and test results, in the Health app, Apple says. They can then share that information with “approved third-party apps requesting this information, like airlines, event venues, and other businesses that facilitate in-person interactions.” Coming soon: The ability to add a COVID-19 vaccination card in Apple Wallet.
