Detect life/death/no movement

[rpitteng]

Using the Ionic SDK, obviously, it would be possible to track if a wearer is alive by their heart rate.  Is there any way to determine if a wearer is dead?  Alternatively, to determine if the wearer is alive and has not moved for a particular amount of time (for example, detect heart rate, but also determine time since last motion).  This would be a useful feature for Apps for elderly.

[Jorix]

Interesting idea. However, I do see an issue where the owner of the Ionic has taken off the watch to take a shower/bath. Would be really annoying if emergency contacts would be alarmed whenever this is the case 🙂

[jay791]

Well then, there should be a way to tell if user is wearing the device. Microsoft Band had such sensor so it's definitely possible.

[Gondwana · Accepted solution]

You could correlate with other sensors (eg, position, acceleration).

However, I think a more problematic issue would be legal: Fitbits aren't intended for medical use and arguably don't have the required precision and reliability to take on such a responsibility.