Sleep and paid services are future of Samsung Health

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Sleep and paid services are future of Samsung Health

Published: 23 May. 2023, 18:34

Hon Pak, the head of Samsung Electronics' digital health team, speaks about Samsung Health's vision at a press briefing in Jung District, central Seoul, on Tuesday. [SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS]

Samsung Electronics plans on turning some of Samsung Health's features into paid services as the electronics manufacturer is stepping up the health-related functions incorporated into Galaxy watches.

“Right now the service is completely free but we are exploring different options,” said Hon Pak, the head of Samsung Electronics’ digital health team at a press briefing on Tuesday. “In the future, we are contemplating a premium model or a subscription-based service.”

Samsung Health, which reports having 64 million monthly global users, started out as a simple app that tracks basic physical activities in 2012. It then expanded to track users’ sleep patterns in 2015. With the release of the Galaxy Watch, it was developed to track and record users’ blood pressure and electrocardiogram monitoring capabilities that measure heart activities. From 2021, Samsung Health on Galaxy watches came equipped with a bioactive sensor to offer real-time body composition measurements, or the amount of muscle, fat and water in the users’ bodies.

Last month, Samsung Health updated its service to predict menstrual cycles using temperature sensors on the Galaxy Watch 5.

Pak emphasized that one of Samsung Health’s main visions was to further enhance its sleep-related functions. One function unique to Samsung Health is sleep coaching, which studies users' sleep patterns for a week and then assigns them a "sleep animal," which offers different types of advice based on each animal. There are eight different animals.

Another update that will be implemented from the upcoming Galaxy Watch 6 is an automatic light adjustment from the sensor light of the watches' backside catering to the users' sleeping mode. Samsung believes small updates like this can impact the quality of users' sleep.

“Sleep is the window for health,” Pak said. “Sleep records not only show how well we slept, but show the variation of heart rates, blood pressure, temperatures, and as a whole, give insights on factors like cardiovascular risks.

“What we’re looking for is more holistic, integrated wellness. Sleep, nutrition, activity and stress are four well-known pillars that can change our lifestyles [...] We’re really working toward personalizing and giving users a more holistic understanding of their health. If you really look at sleep, nutrition, activity and stress, they are all very interrelated. These are not separate. So we have to take a more holistic approach in the future and there are all these sensors that I can’t tell you about, but that we are developing that I think will be phenomenal.”

Pak also revealed that Samsung Health has plans for more devices.

“Our plan is to go beyond wearable watches to broader wearables that could be earbuds, rings, any number of things,” he said. “We also think that ambient sensors are probably going to be important [in the future] to collect data on sleep.”

BY LEE JAE-LIM [lee.jaelim@joongang.co.kr]