When most people think of Nestlé, they might think of drinking water, coffee and candy. Android fans may think of Android version 4.4, named after Nestlé’s break-time treat, KitKat. What most people might not think of when they think of Nestlé is a comprehensive IoT-based health and nutrition platform, based around Samsung’s Artik Internet of Things platform, but that’s exactly what Nestlé will be creating in the very near future. According to a press release from Samsung, the two are going to work hand-in-hand to create an advanced suite of devices that can help with monitoring users’ health, wellness and nutrition.
Samsung’s presence in the IoT market is already pretty big, with devices like smart fridges on the market, but one area of IoT that they’ve been lacking in is health. The potential for IoT devices in the health and wellness fields is huge, and Nestlé and Samsung both see this potential as their chance to get an edge in a nascent market through a partnership of behemoth proportions. Their announcement doesn’t name specifics, but does seem to center around consumer-facing IoT creations; mentions of monitoring nutrition, wellness, and fitness are thrown around liberally, along with mentions of state-of-the-art sensors developed with biological science in mind.
Samsung Strategy and Innovation Center and Nestlé Institute of Health Sciences will be combining Nestlé’s expertise with healthcare and nutrition with Samsung’s knack for all things digital to create a wide range of revolutionary new sensors, data sets, and devices in the IoT healthcare space, but thus far, there has been no announcement of any specifics as to what may be announced. With both brands being very well known, it’s not entirely unlikely to see whatever solutions they roll out becoming major contenders in the consumer IoT health market, and even begin penetrating into the professional scene, currently ruled mostly by companies who were already big in the healthcare space. Scientifically created and tested sensors, together with technology centered around flexibility are named as parts of the initiative, leaving a fairly wide range of possible devices and focuses that could come of this partnership. With Google also apparently poised to get into IoT healthcare, the space is getting ready to heat up in a big way and give the current big players a run for their money.