The Apple Watch, being a feature-packed, life-saving device, has been one of the most popular smartwatches in the market. Since its initial release, Apple has improved the health-focused watch with features like fall detection and blood-oxygen monitoring. Now, the Cupertino giant is launching a study to test whether the Apple Watch could detect respiratory illnesses like the Coronavirus or the Flu in an individual or not.
The study will be a collaborative effort between Apple, the University of Washington, and the Seattle Flu Study. Apple announced this study back in 2020, at its “Time Flies” event. Now, as per an official blog post from the Seattle Flu Study, the organizations are looking for participants for the study.
To participate in the study, one should be a resident of the greater Seattle area, be 22 years or older, possess an iPhone 6s or above, speak and read English, and actively commit up to 6 months for the study. And if you qualify for the study and eventually end up participating, you will get an Apple Watch to wear and collect your health data.
Following participation, the Apple Watch will collect your health and activity data. You will also have to answer simple survey questions about your respiratory symptoms and lifestyle on a weekly and monthly basis in the Apple Research app on the iPhone.
During the length of the study, if you fall sick, you will receive a free, at-home nasal swab to test for COVID-19 and/or other respiratory illnesses. Moreover, you will have to take some additional health measurements on your Apple Watch.
Now, if you worry about privacy, Apple says that it will maintain user confidentiality. The company will only disclose and/or link the data to you when you sign the informed consent form.
The primary aim of the study will be to test whether the Apple Watch and the iPhone could detect early signs of COVID-19 or not. And if the study is successful, Apple might add some features to detect such illnesses to its wearable in the future.
