We often think of apps as games that entertain us. We think of technology in the light of convenience and what it can do for us. There are tons of new technologies developed every single year, and most of the time we do not think of them in the light of making us healthier.
However, there are many tech innovations that make the world a better place. Here are just five of them.
Fitness Trackers
For years there have been fitness, activity, and diet trackers online. These websites and templates offered forms for uploading your caloric intake and any exercise you did that day. However, they did not track exercise in real time along with heart rate and the calories you were actually burning during that activity.
Wearables like Fitbit and the new Apple Watch make it easy to track your activity, and apps on both make it easy to track your caloric intake along with fats, carbs, and proteins so that you can get a full picture of your diet as well.
These devices also offer coaching apps or modes, ones where your device will remind you to stand, breathe and meditate, and encourage you to work out on a daily basis. Other apps can even coach you during your workouts, reminding you to go faster or try harder.
These have been one of the biggest enhancers of personal fitness.
Vapes and Vaping
While the benefits and even the dangers of vaping remain under some debate, the one thing most people agree on is that it is better than smoking cigarettes and other clearly harmful tobacco products. Affordable vape kits, liquids that taper down the amount of nicotine the user takes in, and even herbal and organic blends make vaping a truly popular way to quit smoking.
Vaping is also proven to be more effective than patches, pills, and other methods frequently used to quit. A part of the reason is that it replaces the oral fixation, breathing, and tactile sensations of smoking with similar ones. Whether you are a fan of vaping or not, it is clear that the devices and the technology associated with them have made the world a healthier place.
Apps That Get Kids Moving
There are a ton of apps and games that are now designed to get kids up and moving. A part of this is the use of augmented or virtual reality to draw kids into truly active games. One of the primary ones that immediately comes to mind is Pokémon Go. In the popular game the user must roam around and collect Pokémon, do battle, and more all in the “real” world.
This gets kids out walking, running, and exploring the area around them in search of the elusive creatures, and the benefits are not just for kids. Many adults have become enamored with the game and continue to play as well.
Similar augmented reality games do the same thing for kids. They get them up and moving around both inside and outside, making the world a healthier place by encouraging our kids to adopt healthier behaviors.
Facebook’s Digital Map that Helps with Humanitarian Aid
One of the best maps of the world’s population was created by Facebook. Why? Because they want to bring the internet and their service to everyone. However, the other benefits of this map have been exponential in nature.
One of the biggest benefits has been that we can now see transportation routes, where people actually live, and the areas affected by a natural disaster in ways we never could before. This means that humanitarian aid can reach isolated areas faster than ever before.
Chat Bots and Online Therapy for Mental Health
One of the largest concerns in the United States is mental health. There are more and more children and adults who suffer from mental illness yet remain undiagnosed because of access to good therapy that is affordable.
The internet is changing that. You can get therapy and online help without ever leaving home. Chatbots can help you through simple problems, and if nothing else can be there to listen. Artificial intelligence and machine learning mean that these bots are learning more as they go along, so with every person they help they gain more knowledge of resources and patterns they can use to help others.
Therapists can also offer their services online to those not in their area. Through video calling and programs like Skype and FaceTime, patients and therapists can see and interact with each other even when they are not in the same country.
Technology is advancing at an exponential rate, and there are constantly new advances that are making our lives better and easier. The ones that make the world a healthier place though, and the most important.
What are some of the ways that technology has positively impacted your health? Leave us a comment with your thoughts in the section below.
