Your Smartphone Knows When You’re Sick

[Geri Butner]

A recent study shows that 91 percent of smartphone owners have their phone within arm’s reach 24 hours a day, seven days a week. It’s safe to say that your smartphone knows a lot about you, from your daily appointments, to your activity online, to who you text and call regularly. With this in mind, a startup has developed GINGER.io, a mobile application that lets users know when they’re sick based on their behavior and activities.

 

Do you usually call your mom every day, but lately you’ve had no interest? This is just one example of the type of behavior that goes into a formula to detect whether your typical activities are deviating from the baseline. For instance, changes in how someone communicates can be a sign of the early stages of depression. The app will alert you about these conditions and in the future, it will alert a caretaker with your explicit permission.

 

According to tests, GINGER.io was able to pick up on 60 to 90 percent of the symptomatic days for mental health and common respiratory symptoms. Telling you when you’re experiencing deviations from your usual health? Now that’s a smart phone.