February 24, 2023
Firm expert in digital health and fitness spoke at the world's largest tech convention
Chris Eschbach, Ph.D., a senior manager in Exponent's Biomechanics practice, was featured in the Digital Health Studio at CES 2023 in January. In the video, he discusses how healthcare wearables are becoming more ubiquitous in our daily lives. With over 20 years of experience in both the scientific and applied aspects of health, specifically in the areas of physiology and wearables integration, Dr. Eschbach shares his insights on Exponent's work in the wearables space and issues regarding user adoption and data collection, among other topics.
Exponent works with a host of industries to ensure that new devices operate correctly in the real world. Dr. Eschbach and his team have assisted pharmaceutical companies, forexample, to evaluate wearables for the purpose of differentiating changes in patients during clinical trials.
Dr. Eschbach's team also works to help increase user adoption and adherence. To obtain the benefits of these new and sophisticated health monitoring systems, he stresses the importance of the user experience and establishing a habits-building approach to design.
"In the world of wearables, both from the medical side of things and the commercial side of things, they're being integrated more and more into medical use cases, real-word use cases, and being worn for long periods of time," says Dr. Eschbach, a former chair of the Consumer Technology Association's Health and Wellness Standards Committee, which develops industry standards for wearable health and fitness devices. "To motivate that person to wear them, the user experience is incredibly important, so what makes a good user experience is going to keep that person monitoring themselves."
Dr. Eschbach also discusses how data is monitored, packaged, and communicated to encourage individuals to integrate wearables into their lifestyle. "It's about simplifying the data," he notes. "We don't want it just to report that data, we need it to be simplified, and we need to have it as actionable feedback."
View Dr. Eschbach's full interview here to learn more about the evolution of wearables.