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Constellation Research founder Ray Wang provides an overview of Apple’s latest product announcements.
“Siri, am I depressed? “
Apple is working on features designed to detect depression, anxiety, autism and cognitive decline that can progress to Alzheimer’s disease and other types of dementia, according to an article published Tuesday in the Wall Street Journal.
The Depression and Cognitive Decline functions are said to use a lot of personal data collected by sensors on Apple devices like iPhones and Apple Watches, including information on users’ sleep patterns, physical activity, typing behavior. , etc.
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Apple is said to be working on the effort alongside researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles, who study stress, anxiety, and depression. The tech giant is also working with drugmaker Biogen Inc., which studies cognitive decline, according to the Journal.
A third reported collaboration, with Duke University, uses the iPhone’s camera to observe the physical behavior of young children and help detect autism.
Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the report.
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The projects are said to be still in the early stages of research, and it is not clear whether they will ever result in a product that will be presented to the public.
Disruptive Tech Research founder and chief analyst Lou Basenese gives an overview of Apple’s latest announcements at Tuesday’s event and other headlines from the tech world.
Apple’s reported effort comes as a growing body of research in recent years shows that using the company’s own devices could contribute to mental health issues.
A 2019 study by researchers at the University of Arizona found that smartphone addiction among 18 to 20 year olds “predicts higher reports of depressive symptoms and loneliness.” A 2017 article by researchers from San Diego and the state of Florida showed that heavy use of smartphones and social media among teens was associated with higher rates of mental health problems and suicide.
Still, Apple COO Jeff Williams, who heads the company’s health department, told employees “enthusiastically” that the company has the potential to help fight rising rates. anxiety and depression, sources told the Journal.
Any effort by Apple to detect mental health issues would inevitably raise privacy concerns for some users – and the company has already faced an outcry from privacy advocates this year over a plan to crawling user images for child pornography, which led Apple to postpone and change the functionality.
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To address privacy concerns, Apple’s algorithms would work locally on users’ devices rather than sending data to the company, according to documents reviewed by Journal.
Biogen, the company reportedly working with Apple to detect signs of cognitive decline, is behind a controversial $ 56,000-a-year Alzheimer’s drug that was approved by the Food and Drug Administration in June. . External FDA advisers had raised concerns about the drug’s ineffectiveness and even criticized FDA’s own staff for what they called an overly positive review.
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