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C o n s u m e r E l e c t r o n i c s D a i l y N e w s E v e n i n g E x t r a 1 1 W e d n e s d a y, J a n u a r y 6 , 2 0 1 6 EMFIT ANNOUNCES HAVING OLYMPIC-LEVEL CUSTOMERS Emfit Ltd is proud to announce the suc- cess of Emfit QS sleep monitor that measures heart rate variability (HRV), telling about recovery levels and both sleep efficiency and quality. Emfit QS has already been com- pared to Zeo, which was a pioneer in sleep monitoring, and has also been praised by Ben Rubin, the former Chief Executive Officer of Zeo himself. The product, launched in spring 2015, was developed to solve the problem of track- ing health, wellness and recovery without needing to wear any device or remember- ing to start/stop any measurement. Unlike competition, Emfit QS can meas- ure heart rate variability throughout the whole night and uses full three-stage sleep classification (REM, deep, light) to give more detailed information about the mind and body's recovery. The product features also include heart and respira- tion rates, resting heart rate and turns and tosses. Today, Emfit QS is one of the many devices that Sky Christopherson, world record holder and Founder of OAthlete, is using with Olympic ath- letes to create sustainable perfor- mance using Data Not Drugs ® : "Working with Olympic athletes, we use 'Data Not Drugs' to boost every aspect of athlete health and perform- ance. New technologies are enabling us to help athletes get exciting results, including five Olympic medals in the most recent Olympics. Moral and health argu- ments aside, we believe using data to leverage the natural strengths of our bodies will always win over the long run. Since sleep is foundational to health and perform- ance, it is a focal point of our program and we have used every sensor on the market. The Emfit system is creating new capabilities in under- standing sleep both with the goal of improving it, but also using it to better inform training decisions as we moved towards truly individualized training models. The ease of use and accuracy of Emfit is also unprecedented. As a result, the Emfit system is now an inte- gral part of our 'Data Not Drugs' pro- gram as we build a future that uses more data and less drugs, in sport, and hopefully in health." About Emfit Ltd. Emfit is a global leader in quasi-piezoelectric ferroelec- tret sensors and actuators. Since 1990, Finnish company Emfit has pioneered the devel- opment and manufacture of these electro active polymers. Emfit also develops and manufactures whole prod- ucts with focus in health tech. Today, Emfit is a leading manufacturer of ferro- electret sensor and actuator material for various applications, including paper machinery, sports equipment, music instruments, touch-sensitive human inter- faces, smart building solutions and more. For more information, visit www.emfit.com or stop by booth #73526. KEEPING IT SIMPLE: HEALTH TECH FOR TODAY'S OLDER ADULT By David Inns, Chief Exectuive Officer, GreatCall A venture capitalist caused a recent stir by suggesting digital health won't get traction until Millennials are old and sick. Why? The real economic impact of health tech comes from improving out- comes and reducing cost in the healthcare system. Older adults drive the bulk of these costs. Assuming today's older pop- ulation isn't filled with early adopters, we won't have traction until we have a generation that is old, sick and has grown up with technology. What if we designed digital health solutions for today's older population instead of the next generation? Here are the keys to doing so. You can't win with apps alone. Only 27 percent of Americans over 65 have a smartphone, according to 2015 Pew Research. However, this does rep- resent an eight-point increase in owner- ship compared with early 2014 – with most of that adoption occurring in the most active and healthy segments of seniors. Those that can benefit most aren't adopting smartphones quickly – and when they do, find apps and Bluetooth pairing a challenge. To make an impact today, you can't assume your customer can download an app; you may need to put devices in their hands or engage the family caregiver in the process. Solve the adoption problem with simplicity and service. Everything in your solution needs to work out of the box with minimal setup. You also need well-trained, patient, com- passionate people to help your cus- tomers. Don't over-engineer complex solutions that increase feature costs with features that will never be used. Make sure every barrier has been scrutinized and minimized. Focus on problems and tangible solutions, not technology. Unlike Millennials, today's senior doesn't adopt technology because it's new and cool. If you ask older consumers if they are interested in a new technology, the answer will be no. If instead you speak to them about a problem, and present a viable solution at a reasonable price, the answer will change. Engage family caregivers. A recent RAND study concluded "family caregiving" in the U.S. costs $522 billion per year. Technology can improve the productivity and effectiveness of care- givers. Since the caregiver will play a large role in your sales – from providing decision support to coordinating pur- chase and setup – your marketing mix, operational processes and your product itself need to account for their important role. Go direct-to-consumer. There is a large market of consumers and care- givers with problems – and they are willing to pay for the right solu- tions. To get results in the direct-to-consumer market you need to address the previous points plus have capital for driving awareness. Drive primary demand through awareness and education. The health tech market for older adults is in its infancy. Companies must drive primary demand for these solutions to be successful. Simple, cost-effective solutions that solve real problems and allow older adults to remain active and independent longer will drive adop- tion. The underlying key is that smart tech companies developing technology need to be smart enough to keep it sim- ple. For more information, visit www .greatcall.com.