Apple is investigating whether it can recognize conditions such as depression and anxiety with the iPhone. The devices could use sleep patterns and behavioural patterns for this, among other things.
That writes the Wall Street Journal, which reports the start of an extensive study on this. Diagnoses such as depression, anxiety, or cognitive decline can include facial expressions, breathing, and even how users type.
This would make the iPhone go a lot further than the sensors that are already in many smartphones. Therefore, the idea of using the device you always have with you to monitor your health is not new. From heart rate monitors to pedometers to sleep diagnosis, it’s all there already. However, diagnoses of a person’s mental state are a lot more sensitive.
The company has started a research project around this with, among others, the University of California, in which data from iPhone and Apple Watch are used on 3,000 volunteers to investigate stress, anxiety and depression.
Patterns picked up by the devices are compared with more traditional research methods, such as cortisol in hair follicles. A second project, together with Duke University, is looking at early signs of autism in children.
If these and other studies show that specific data aligns with a diagnosis, the iPhone could encourage users to seek help early on. In addition, all data processing would take place on the device itself. That data would not be forwarded to Apple’s servers. Whether such a function will come, and when, is not yet certain.
The studies seem to be still in an early phase. Although studies have already seen that people with depression, for example, use their smartphones differently, it is not yet entirely clear whether you can build an algorithm around this.