It takes a lot of data to create new wearables that are accurate and useful. A new organization is solving this problem for developers.
Wearable devices are changing how we do healthcare, lowering costs and saving lives. But developers need to create the software that analyze the sensor data. They also need to test their systems to make sure that they are measuring what they think they are. Creating the algorithms and collecting the necessary data for testing are expensive and complex tasks. A new organization has created an Open Source database of both algorithms and data that can be used by wearable device developers. Open Source means that the information is available for free and can be shared and modified. The Open Wearables Initiative is also encouraging researchers and wearable developers to contribute their own algorithms and data sets to the collection. All donations will be carefully screened to make sure that they are appropriate and accurate before being made available. This project could lower the cost of development for new wearables, and bring them to market much faster.