ForbesSony\u2019s New Wearable Air Conditioner Arrives In U.S. To Beat Summer HeatwavesBy David Phelan<\/a><\/p>\nDr Pak is the doctor everybody wants: knowledgeable, compassionate, friendly and efficient. I talked to him while he was at the VivaTech conference in Paris and he spoke about a world where connected devices, artificial intelligence and continuous monitoring would enable healthcare that focuses on prevention rather than treatment.<\/p>\n
The problem, he argued, is that prevention ultimately comes down to daily choices\u2014sleep, nutrition, activity and stress management. Healthcare systems have traditionally struggled to monitor them in any meaningful way.<\/p>\n
Samsung believes it can change that.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have a unique way of connecting devices, the data that comes together, those ambient sensing capabilities, plus the wearables,\u201d Pak said. \u201cWe think we are one of few companies that could really pull off this ecosystem.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Role Of Ambient Smart Home Tracking<\/p>\n
That ecosystem extends well beyond smartwatches. Samsung\u2019s SmartThings platform already connects millions of homes worldwide, linking appliances, televisions, sensors and third-party devices. Pak sees those connected environments becoming an increasingly important source of health-related insight.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you leave the door of the refrigerator open or the stove is still on when you’re leaving \u2014 these things are now able to be collected and used in specific ways,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
For now, Samsung can recommend recipes, tailor meal suggestions and increasingly connect those recommendations to grocery delivery services. Soon, Samsung will be able to look inside its refrigerators to help you adjust a recipe to suit what\u2019s there. And Pak believes the real value lies in removing the friction that prevents people from making healthier choices.<\/p>\n
\u201cOne of the things that I’ve come to realise as a physician is that I can do a lot of things when someone is sick,\u201d he said. \u201cBut the first-mile and the last-mile issues are pretty large.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dr Hon Pak, in charge of Samsung’s digital health team.<\/p>\n
Samsung<\/p>\n
The first mile involves identifying potential health problems early. The last mile involves helping people actually follow through on the behavioural changes doctors recommend.<\/p>\n
\u201cA lot of people have difficulty with changing behaviors such as eating the right food, sleeping well,\u201d Pak explained. \u201cAnd so, this is where making the last mile easier to do is crucial. If I say you should measure your blood pressure, instead of just reminding them, you could have the button to say, \u2018Click here and we’ll take a blood pressure now.\u2019 Part of the challenge is that there are barriers. What we aim to do is make it easier.\u201d<\/p>\n
Measuring Cardiovascular Risk With Samsung Health<\/p>\n
One newly announced feature, for the Samsung Health app that uses the Galaxy Watch, is Vitals. This establishes a baseline for each user by monitoring heart rate, respiratory rate, blood oxygen levels and other physiological signals during sleep over a seven-day period. Once that baseline is established, Samsung can identify meaningful deviations.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe’re able to then calibrate and see whether you’re deviating from that norm,\u201d Pak said. \u201cIf you go beyond a certain standard deviation, we alert you that there might be something you need to get checked out.\u201d<\/p>\n
Another upcoming feature for the Health app, Heart Health Score, seeks to quantify how lifestyle choices influence cardiovascular risk.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor the first time, what we’re doing is taking the measures of four pillars of wellness\u2014sleep, nutrition, activity and stress,\u201d Pak said. \u201cWe’ve been able to quantify how changes in sleep, whether you’re active or not, those lifestyle choices, we can now correlate scientifically to the level of risk of your heart disease.\u201d<\/p>\n
The goal is to create a system that understands the individual behind the data.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe’re really looking for AI to help us take all the data that we’re collecting and make it a daily health companion,\u201d Pak told me. \u201cIt knows who you are, knows your preferences, and over time it will adjust the program and meet you where you are.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Power Of Continuous Wearable Data<\/p>\n
The importance of continuous monitoring becomes obvious and Samsung\u2019s answer includes measuring overnight blood pressure trends, sleep patterns and vital signs.<\/p>\n
Pak mentioned a striking example involving a physician in Jordan who received repeated smartwatch notifications warning of atrial fibrillation.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was having a normal, healthy day,\u201d Pak commented. \u201cHe went to see a doctor and that day had a stent and a procedure done to remove a blockage of the artery. He was asymptomatic the whole time.\u201d<\/p>\n
Stories like that illustrate why continuous monitoring matters, but Pak believes the future potential extends much further.<\/p>\n
He cited research in which artificial intelligence analyzed thousands of sleep studies and found signals capable of predicting more than 30 diseases \u2014 years before diagnosis. Other analysis was able to look at individual organs and assign an age to them.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat that tells us is that as we’re measuring parameters on wearables and beyond, it’s in there,\u201d he said. \u201cWe just haven’t done all the work yet.\u201d<\/p>\n
Custom AI Health Coaching On The Horizon<\/p>\n
The challenge is persuading people to act on the data they collect, which is where Samsung\u2019s next generation of AI coaching comes in. Pak said the company is aiming to launch this next year.<\/p>\n
The ambition is to create an AI coach that understands not only a person’s health profile but also their behavioral profile.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe want to know how you behave,\u201d he said. \u201cThere’s a language by which I get motivated. There’s a tone, there’s a certain way in which I respond better, and everyone’s different.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIf I’m a drill sergeant and say, \u2018Go do push-ups,\u2019 somebody will respond to that. Most will not,\u201d Pak explained.<\/p>\n
Instead, Samsung plans to build systems that learn which nudges work for which people, adapting both timing and tone.<\/p>\n
\u201cOver the next two to three years, the AI will be able to say, based on this person’s characteristics, I’m going to nudge them this way, and 70 or 80 per cent of the time I can predict that person is going to exercise more or sleep more.\u201d<\/p>\n
If that sounds ambitious, Pak said he believed the underlying data will eventually make it possible.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are a lot of signals that we’re sitting on that we don’t even know about,\u201d Pak commented.<\/p>\n
As wearable technology becomes increasingly sophisticated, the line between consumer electronics and medical devices is becoming blurred.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat used to be clinical medical-grade features are now beginning to show up on the wearable side,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Samsung already offers regulated features such as sleep apnoea detection and atrial fibrillation monitoring in various markets, while continuing work on more advanced technologies, including non-invasive continuous glucose monitoring.<\/p>\n
The technology is still evolving, and many of the answers remain to be discovered.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe think there’s enough out there that, through multimodal data collection and using AI, there are a lot of signals that we’re sitting on,\u201d he said. \u201cWe just have to go find them.\u201d<\/p>\n
Confirming The Next-Gen Galaxy Ring 2 Hardware<\/p>\n
Samsung\u2019s ambitions in health, however, are not only about software and algorithms. The hardware itself will continue to evolve \u2014 and Pak confirmed that a new generation of Galaxy Ring is already in development.<\/p>\n
Asked about the future of the ring, which launched almost two years ago, Pak was careful not to reveal timing or specifications, but he did offer a clear indication of Samsung\u2019s direction.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are working on the next generation. I can tell you that,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The company is looking at improvements in areas such as sensors and battery life, but Pak believes the biggest differentiator in the wearables market may not simply be the hardware inside the device.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you look at the comparison of other rings, regardless of the competitor, the sensors are not that different right now,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s really about what services you create on the top layer. It\u2019s really the software differentiation that you see.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOne device doesn\u2019t cover all things,\u201d Pak said. \u201cOur approach is connected ecosystem, connected devices, that give people choices.\u201d<\/p>\n
One of the biggest questions surrounding the Galaxy Ring is whether Samsung will eventually expand its compatibility beyond Android. Today, the ring is tied to the Galaxy ecosystem, excluding iPhone users \u2014 a significant part of the global smartphone market.<\/p>\n
When asked whether iOS compatibility was being considered, Pak was diplomatic. \u201cI\u2019m smiling but I can\u2019t say anything,\u201d he said. \u201cI think you\u2019ll be very pleased with some of the releases and the upcoming news.\u201d<\/p>\n
It was far from a formal announcement, but the implication was clear: Samsung is thinking beyond the current Galaxy Ring, and the next stage of its health strategy may be about reaching a wider audience.<\/p>\n
ForbesSamsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 To Upgrade Display Crease, Report SaysBy David Phelan<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Samsung Galaxy Ring in gold finish. David Phelan Prevention, it\u2019s said, is better than cure, so it seems…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":761065,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[363413,64,63,363408,363405,137,500,363411,363404,363406,363410,363412,363409,363407],"class_list":["post-761064","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-healthcare","tag-atrial-fibrillation-biometric-smartwatch-alerts","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-conversational-ai-fitness-coach-nudges","tag-dr-hon-pak-digital-health-interview","tag-health","tag-healthcare","tag-non-invasive-continuous-glucose-monitoring","tag-samsung-galaxy-ring-2-development-confirmation","tag-samsung-health-vitals-baseline-tracking","tag-sleep-apnea-detection-fda-regulation","tag-smart-ring-ios-iphone-compatibility-hint","tag-smartthings-ambient-home-telemetry","tag-wearable-continuous-blood-pressure-trends"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/761064","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=761064"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/761064\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/761065"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=761064"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=761064"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=761064"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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