by: Tech-On! : tech news - straight from Asia., 2012-01-25 09:04:00 UTC
Eight Japan- and the US-based firms established an industry group for wireless communications used for smart meters.
The holiday season may be over, but the time spent with friends and family may still be fresh. In all the gatherings, I would bet you had at least one conversation about health--your diet for 2012, a friend’s pledge to exercise more, Mom’s rehab from her surgery, Dad’s long list of medications. It is impossible to escape that time of year without thinking about health; whether you are fortunate to have good health, or hoping this year will bring it.
The good news is 2012 will be the year of good health--at least in the world of design and technology. Where I live in Silicon Valley, many people believe home health will be the next big boom. The Rock Health incubator is churning out a slew of startups that will help you manage your health, the iPhone 5 is expected to launch with a built-in heart rate monitor, and sick people everywhere will begin to look at health care more as consumers than as patients.
There is reason to be skeptical here. In the past few decades, people have cared deeply about health yet have continued to take lousy care of themselves. Let’s face it: Healthy people have always taken it for granted, and unhealthy people are often terrible patients. So what’s changing, and why is now the time for a metamorphosis in home health?
The answer comes down to two significant factors: (1) People are expanding their definition of “health” to include proactive wellness and ownership of treatment, and (2) There is a huge opportunity for designers to inject desire into this category. By the end of 2012, I believe the lines will blur between the health care, technology, and home products industries.
Health used to be something we worried about at home and solved at the hospital. The reality is more and more health care management is happening in the home, and that’s where many solutions actually belong. One of the biggest shifts in how we define “health” is our recognition that there are two distinct parts of the equation: wellness and medicine.
When it comes to wellness, or living a preventative lifestyle, Americans have been obsessed with losing weight since we started getting obese in 1990. But only in the last couple years have we actually started to care about full-body wellness. As an example, just look at the number of yoga studios and natural foods markets popping up throughout the Midwest and South. This movement is mainstream, not just for the hippies where I live. It represents a big shift: body weight to full-body wellness.
Compare that to medicine, or the treatment of a condition, where we used to think doctors were the only ones in control of our health. Now, with our health care system so messed up, we only go to the doctor when it is absolutely necessary--for procedures and prescriptions. And with that health care system incentivized to push patients out of the hospital as fast as possible, people are quickly learning to take recovery into their own hands. Access to medical information through resources like WebMD has forever changed the way we handle our health. This is another big cultural shift: responsible doctor to self-responsibility.
There is a massive opportunity for design and technology to make the difference in this $100 billion+ home health market. That’s not to say that the health care industry does not already have excellent designers and technologists in the ranks. However, there is a big opportunity to shift what those talented people are able to focus on.
All truly great designs balance three distinct characteristics; they are useful, usable, and desirable. Sadly, the home health industry is often missing a third of the recipe--desire. That’s because the ingredients that make a product or experience desirable are the easiest to dismiss; they’re not rational or quantifiable. Because home health takes its roots in the medical industry, it is historically practical and lacks personality. The truth is that there is good reason for a surgical tool to be mostly useful and usable, because all you really desire is for the darn thing to save your life. But home health products are used by regular people, and most do not have the instant impact of immediately saving your life. Products like these need the element of desire to stand any chance in a competitive consumer landscape.
I’m not just talking about aesthetics--emotion is what drives desire. We are constantly challenged to make healthy decisions in our daily lives, and many times the unhealthy alternative is driven by an emotional desire. What if the healthy choice was also the most desirable? What if the home health industry emphasized the same psychology of desire as the consumer electronics, gaming, and food industries? Designers and technologists have the power to relieve the burden of managing one’s health by repositioning it in a different context.
Stay tuned for my next post focusing on several specific areas for expanding home health.
by: Environmental Leader, 2012-01-24 15:20:38 UTC LG Electronics has announced energy efficiency improvements to to its HVAC products at the International Air Conditioning, Heating and Refrigeration Expo in Chicago. The Multi V III – the third generation of LG’s flagship Multi V series – now offers an Integrated Energy Efficient Ratio of up to 21.8, LG announced. The range also has [...]
by: Environmental Leader, 2012-01-24 15:30:41 UTC C3 has launched version three of its Energy and Emissions Management software. C3 Version 3 is an integrated suite of applications that manage enterprise-wide energy and sustainability. The software is built on a scalable web architecture that can be deployed in the cloud or as an on-premise appliance. Version 3 is now being beta tested [...]
by: TEDTalks (video), 2012-01-23 16:17:50 UTC
2012 may be the year of 3D printing, when this three-decade-old technology finally becomes accessible and even commonplace. Lisa Harouni gives a useful introduction to this fascinating way of making things -- including intricate objects once impossible to create.
by: Gizmodo , 2012-01-31 22:31:50 UTC
Tesla released a Web video of its new Model S electric sedan, featuring statements by Chief Designer Franz von Holzhausen and Vice President George Blankenship.
Let us reintroduce you to the Bidum basket. It’s not just a storage item, as my colleague Suzanne LaBarre wrote last year: “It swings, shimmies, and shakes like some sort of cross between a Slinky and a giant Koosh Ball.” Laetitia Florin produced the container for her graduate thesis at the École Cantonale d’Art de Lausanne, in Switzerland; now, the 23-year-old’s design is being produced by Ligne Roset. We couldn’t be prouder.
Bidum is made from strips of spring steel covered in cotton--a process that requires a degree of handcraft. Per Florin: “Bidum is a dynamic object, a fascinating container. It can be used for anything, you define what it contains!” Of course, it’s more inclined to bounce when empty.
Apple has been in hot water ever since a long and detailed New York Times report came out highlighting abuses and environmental hazards during the manufacture of its products in China. From chronically overworked employees and extremely hazardous working conditions to overcrowding in dormitories and low pay, the article has unleashed a resounding criticism of Apple and speculation that a boycott will be next. We want to know what you think – would you boycott Apple products until they clean up their act in China?
Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll.
by: FEED STOP, 2012-01-13 13:00:00 UTC
Why do We Need Standards?
Author and activist Paul Hawken argues that our natural resources are “the foundation of our economy.” Without our water, timber, air and land our economy would cease to function. Communication designers must realize the importance of designing with people and the environment top of mind. They can do so by minimizing their waste of our natural resources like water and trees and reduce CO2 emissions through choosing recycled materials, and by working with vendors also committed to the same cause. As this movement grows it is important to make sure that the communication design profession collectively selects the most logical [...]
by: Sustainable Design News, 2012-01-31 23:18:04 UTC USGBC has released a package of LEED Project Submittal Tips and is hosting a series of certification webinars to help guide the certification process and make things more efficient for both project teams and reviewers.
Having observed common obstacles encountered by LEED project teams, LEED Project Reviewers have established a central source of informal advice, intended to give project teams a more precise understanding of what reviewers are seeking and to speed up the review process.
by: Design 4 Sustainability, 2012-01-31 09:23:57 UTC
technology that's simple, fresh and helpful!
The Nest™ Learning Thermostat™ programs itself in a week and adjusts itself to the schedule of the ...
by: Design 4 Sustainability, 2012-01-29 11:05:40 UTC
Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is the commonly accepted methodology to systematically assess the environmental impact of a product or material over the ...
by: Design 4 Sustainability, 2012-01-26 05:43:19 UTC
Philips Econova 46PFL6806 ECO Smart LED TV was awarded European Green TV 2011-2012. The EISA judging panel noted: “In its quest for energy efficiency ...
by: Design 4 Sustainability, 2012-01-25 08:22:42 UTC
More and more companies are working hard to do the right thing, and more consumers are trying to understand the impact of what they are buying. A company ...
by: Design 4 Sustainability, 2012-01-23 12:42:10 UTC
The brand-new Modefabriek area MINT showcases the best in forward fashion and lifestyle: made with respect for people and our environment, without ...
by: Design 4 Sustainability, 2012-01-20 11:00:17 UTC
Arenaleaf is a ceramic tile manufactured out of 50% recycled material. It is based on modern interpretations of traditional Japanese building methods. ...
by: Design 4 Sustainability, 2012-01-19 08:05:49 UTC
Would you like to access and apply high quality materials property data within Autodesk Inventor? Would you benefit from tools that make it easy to ...
by: Design 4 Sustainability, 2012-01-19 07:58:50 UTC
Arenaleaf is a ceramic tile manufactured out of 50% recycled material. It is based on modern interpretations of traditional Japanese building methods. ...
by: Design 4 Sustainability, 2012-01-17 07:49:04 UTC
The hides of the ‘Easy Being Green’ collection are produced in a sustainable way and are safe for the environment and human health. The main difference ...
by: Design 4 Sustainability, 2012-01-14 08:37:43 UTC
Anne Kyrro Quinn and her studio make bespoke wall coverings from felt. Because of their 3D character they are functioning as sound absorbers. But most ...
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