Android Wear was shown on stage at Google I/O in June 2014. What is it? It's a version of Google's Android operating system but for smartwatches and other wearables. At the moment, you need to connect the smartwatches to your Android phone via Bluetooth in order for them to work, and you'll need a phone that's running Android 4.3 or above.

The first two Android Wear devices were launched early in July. The Samsung Gear Live and the LG G watch. I ordered both, and have been using them for the last month. I'm particularly interested to understand what the potential of these devices in health & social care might be.

In the demo at Google I/O, a some of the demos made me think of how they might impact health & social care. One demo was was ordering pizza by speaking into your phone (1 hour and 30 seconds in the video below) and the other was ordering a taxi by speaking into your phone (1 hour, 3 mins and 30 seconds in the video below).

Interestingly, the two apps which demonstrated these features are currently only available if you're in the USA.

So, which patients would benefit from this service? How might these features be repurposed? Instead of calling a taxi, in the future, could a patient use an Android Wear watch to call for a nurse from their hospital bed? Could a older person in a care home use an Android Wear watch to order their favourite meal?

To use Android Wear with an app, you download an app from the Play Store onto your phone and the 'wearable' portion of that app is sent to your watch. There are a limited number of Android Wear compatible apps available so far.

An example of the screens that appear with the Medisafe app

At launch, the one that interested me the most was Medisafe, a medication management solution. You use the app on the phone to enter which medications you're supposed to take, the dose, and the times. Once you do that, the reminders pop up on the watch. The photo shows you the flow of the reminders on the watch. We already know that patients don't adhere to their prescribed medications or they skip doses, and that's it's a big problem. From a data perspective, the first sign that a patient is not adhering to their treatment regime, might be because they they haven't come back for a repeat prescription after a set period, for example, 30 days.

When I tested the Medisafe app, and noticed you can tap on the 'Skip' icon on the watch, I had a thought. Given the watch is connected to Google, what if when tapping on 'Skip', the watch would ask you why you are skipping a dose? What if you as a patient are able to speak in your own words WHY you've skipped the dose? Imagine if that data as free text could make it back to the patient's electronic medical record in real-time? What insights could these data provide? Could these patient generated data enhance 'active surveillance' of the safety of drugs?

Naturally, Android Wear is in it's infancy, and there are many challenges, but I wonder which organisation will be the first to experiment and to take the risk in exploring these new frontiers? I applaud MediSafe for being the first Digital Health app for Android Wear.

What is Android Wear like in every day use?

I like getting notifications on my wrist. For example, when a new email arrives, the watch vibrates gently, and I swipe the screen to read the email, and can even reply by speaking into the watch. It's also possible to get turn by turn directions on your watch. I spend a lot of time in Central London attending meetings, so I've found it useful to say to the watch 'OK Google Navigate to <destination>', and get turn by turn directions on the watch, with the phone in my pocket or bag.

The attachment for each watch, which are needed in order to charge them.

There is a reason I ordered two Android Wear watches. I knew in advance the battery life was likely to be very limited. I was right, I find that whether I wear the Samsung or the LG watch, they don't last the day. So, I wear both watches, one is switched on during the working day, and then I switch to the second watch from the evening onwards. Until they can release a watch which actually lasts a few days or a week, this is still very much only for early adopters.

On top of that, current engineering dictates the need for an attachment which attaches to the back of each watch, in order to connect to the charger. Lose that piece of plastic, and you're stuck with a dead watch. The charging experience needs to improve drastically, if these devices are to become consumer friendly.

Living in a big city like London, where I often travel late at night by public transport, I find it much safer using Android Wear watches. Why? Well, if I'm on the train or walking down the street, and I get an email or even a call, I can read and respond without even taking my phone out of my pocket. However, using Android Wear in public places is not without problems. Background noise is an issue. I was on a train last week showing friends how it worked, and the noise of my friends talking meant that speaking into the watch took several attempts before it actually understood what I was saying. As I brought the watch closer to my face, and was speaking to it, I noticed an older lady a few seats ahead of me, who looked at me like I was insane. Can you imagine an era where many people in trains are speaking into their watches?

I was in an office showing the capabilities to a friend, when I attempted to show him I could send him a text simply by speaking to the watch. I tried to send a text which said, "You're in hot water", and the watch seemed to translate that as "urine water". Luckily, you have a chance to cancel the text or email by tapping the watch, whilst it's in the process of being sent.

You can see from my video below, that even in a quiet environment, that asking the watch to send a text to 'Doctor' [pre-programmed contact in my phone] doesn't work the first time I try it.

For those that like to monitor your steps, you can see your steps by saying 'Ok Google show me my steps'. It almost feels like a step backward in user experience. That's a time when I want a button! In fact, the LG does not have an on/off button, as it's designed to be 'always-on'. I prefer the Samsung which does have an on/off button.

The Samsung Gear Live has a heart rate sensor, whilst the LG does not. I was at the gym yesterday, clearly out of breath having just did a sprint on the treadmill. Upon finishing the sprint, I said 'OK Google measure my heart rate' to my watch, it returned back a reading of 61bpm, which is even lower than my resting heart rate. If Android Wear devices add more sensors to monitor our health, how can anyone be confident that the data are accurate?

How can Android Wear make an impact?

Right now, these smartwatches are crude, clumsy and seriously flawed. During a month of testing, they are often more dumb than smart. Many of you will simply see Android Wear as a gimmick, and regard the devices as having no value in health and social care. Today, no value but what about tomorrow, next week or next year?

Remember the app that was launched called Yo, which raised a $1 million in funding. At first glance, the app appeared to offer little value or utility. However, it has been used by Israeli programmers to allow people in Israel to get notifications of incoming rocket attacks. A husband in California recently used wrist based wearable technology to monitor the health of his wife who is comatose.

You may remember a post I wrote in May 2014 exploring the concept of using technology such as the Samsung Gear Fit to allow patients to have wireless electronic wristbands for hospital stays. I remember some hospital doctors dismissing my idea as absurd. Recently, Apple were granted 58 patents, one of which relates to a wireless hospital wristband which could transmit data to a smartphone.

It's already possible to control lights at home with Android Wear, as can be seen in this video. When see that, I wonder how Android Wear could help those with limited or no mobility? As this technology evolves (and it will evolve rapidly), how might Android Wear help not just patients, but healthcare professionals and carers? Will we ever see apps for Android Wear developed and launched by hospitals?

In the 21st century, organisations that appear innovative don't always manage to respond as quickly as they'd like to new ideas. Take British Airways, who have pioneered the use of wearable technology on flights by trialling 'happiness blankets' that allow you to monitor how you're feeling when you're flying. Yet, they're letting Delta and American airlines be the pioneers, when it comes to allowing passengers to download their boarding pass to the Android Wear watch [Although, using Android Wear as your boarding pass isn't as easy as it sounds]

@ManeeshJuneja Hi Maneesh, not at the moment, but we'll definitely pass this on to our development team, thank you.
— British Airways (@British_Airways) July 11, 2014

Some of us are waiting for the Moto 360 smartwatch to launch, which promises to be a bit more sophisticated than the current Samsung/LG watches. Others await the anticipated smartwatch from Apple. One barrier to Android Wear watches becoming successful, is that they need to be paired with a rather expensive smartphone with a data plan.

Surely, the ideal smartwatch would be one that could connect to the internet on it's own? Now that sounds like science fiction. Not according to AT&T's Head of Emerging Devices, Glenn Lurie, who predicts that by the end of this year, wearables will have their own cellular connections, and be independent of smartphones.

In fact, just last week, Timex have introduced a smartwatch that has it's own 3G connection and doesn't need a smartphone to work. It's aimed at runners, and doesn't have the notifications or voice input of Android Wear devices, but imagine if the 2015 Android Wear watches also have their own 3G connection? Can you envisage a future scenario where this technology could benefit health and social care? Are there risks associated with embracing Android Wear that we are not considering? Which will be the next Digital Health app on Android Wear?

What new possibilities might be created by these developments? What will this space look like in 12 months time? Could these devices be a new source of real-time patient generated data? Or will Google's Android Wear ultimately fail due to privacy concerns? Would you feel comfortable with a watch attached to your skin that in the future may be streaming data from your body back to Google?

[Disclosure: I have no commercial ties with the individuals and organisations mentioned in this post]