Apple to introduce AI-based health coaching features for emotional tracking

Apple is developing an AI-based health coaching platform and technology to monitor emotions, as part of its ongoing strategy to offer health and wellness features to users.

According to insiders who asked not to be named because the projects have not yet been announced, Apple is reportedly working on a health coaching service called Quartz that will use artificial intelligence and data from the Apple Watch to help users exercise more, eat better, and sleep well. The service will create customized coaching programs and make suggestions based on individual users.

Apple is ramping up its focus on health, with features related to health and wellness becoming increasingly central to its devices, particularly the Apple Watch. The company is also extending its health app to the iPad and introducing new features that could aid users with vision impairments. Apple declined to comment on its plans, according to a company spokeswoman.

Apple’s upcoming Quartz health coaching service, which uses AI and data from Apple Watch to create personalized coaching programs for users, is similar to the LumiHealth wellness and coaching service that the company launched with the Singapore government last year. However, unlike the Singapore-based program, which could offer monetary awards to users for staying healthy, the new Quartz service will come with a monthly fee and will be a standalone app. Apple has not commented on the new initiative.

The planned release of the Quartz service is set for next year, but as with any project, it could be subject to change. The initiative is being spearheaded by various teams within Apple, including its health, Siri, and AI teams, as well as its services division.

Later this year, Apple plans to release an iPad version of its health app for the first time. The update will enable users to view health data, including electrocardiogram results, in a larger format. The new feature is expected to be included in iPadOS 17.

Apple aims to increase the popularity of its health app in healthcare settings by introducing an iPad version later this year. The app, which is a key element of Apple’s health strategy, collects fitness data from Apple Watch and external health records, as well as serves as a gateway for users to share information with healthcare providers. By offering an iPad version, Apple hopes to make it easier for healthcare providers to view and analyze health data in a larger format, as tablets are already being used in healthcare settings.

The health app will include tools for tracking emotions and managing vision conditions, such as near-sightedness, later this year. Initially, the emotion tracker will allow users to log their moods, answer questions about their day, and track changes over time. However, in the future, Apple hopes to use algorithms to determine a user’s mood based on their speech, typing patterns, and other data on their devices.

Apple plans to announce the new iPad app and tools for managing emotion and vision at its annual Worldwide Developers Conference in June, while the Quartz coaching service won’t be unveiled until a later date. The company’s mixed-reality headset, set to debut in June, will also support its health and wellness strategy, with a feature allowing users to meditate while wearing the device, and an optimized version of Apple’s Fitness workout service in development.

In 2014, Apple publicly launched a dedicated health app, which was quickly followed by the release of the Apple Watch a year later. Since then, the company’s health strategy has become a fundamental aspect of its operations, with the addition of new features such as EKGs, atrial fibrillation analysis, fall detection, and sleep tracking. This work has become a significant selling point for the smartwatch.

According to sources familiar with the matter, Apple’s mood- and emotion-tracking features are not related to a journaling app the company is planning to launch this year. The journaling app is not intended as a health feature and is unlikely to be marketed as such. Rather, it will be an expansion of Apple’s Find My service and other location-based features, incorporating social networking elements. Users will be able to write journal entries about their experiences, such as a walk to work. The Wall Street Journal previously reported on the journaling app.

According to a report by Bloomberg News, Apple plans to expand its health initiatives by adding a basic blood pressure monitoring feature to its watch in the coming years. While the feature is unlikely to display precise diastolic and systolic numbers, it will alert the wearer if they show signs of hypertension. The user will then be advised to use a traditional blood pressure monitor or consult with a medical professional.

Apple is currently developing noninvasive glucose monitoring through a confidential team called the Exploratory Design Group. This technology would allow for a blood-sugar reading using sensors instead of a finger prick and has been under development for over 10 years with recent advances. The company is currently working on reducing the size of the system to about the size of an iPhone, with the goal of eventually fitting it into a future Apple Watch.