HOMEKIT: MONITORING IN YOUR HOME
HomeKit may not come to mind when someone
mentions Apple and healthcare, but Apple’s
smart home technology could play a role in
the future of our health at home. As consumers
kit out their properties with HomeKit-enabled
devices like cameras, speakers, light bulbs,
and HomePods, environment monitoring will
become all the more effective, allowing Apple
to detect falls, break-ins, and even neurological
dysfunction monitored from dictation via Siri.
For the elderly, that becomes all the more
important. In developed countries like the
United States and the United Kingdom, aging
populations are challenging government
budgets, making it harder for the elderly to
pass down their wealth, spending their savings
on healthcare instead. If Apple could introduce
advanced home monitoring and telecare, such
as fall detection, lifestyle monitoring, blood
tests, smart shoes, exit sensors, GPS tracking,
and specialist dementia care, it could be on to a
winner. Apple cannot transform healthcare on
its own, but by further opening its ecosystems
to third parties such as app developers and
healthcare professionals, major changes
could happen.
The global smart home market is forecast to
grow to 53.45 billion U.S. dollars in size by
2022 and if Apple wants to dominate in the
sector, then its vertically-integrated ecosystem
approach must step up a gear, starting with the
HomePod. While Google and Amazon dominate
the sector with their Alexa and Google Home
devices, Apple is trailing behind and could be
left out in the cold. By introducing a budget