Bloomberg Businessweek The Future of Women's Health Begins at MIT
Sep 12, 2025
Rosalind Picard, the Grover M. Hermann Professor at MIT and a pioneer in affective computing, shares her insights on the intersection of technology and women's health. She discusses the evolution of wearable devices that enhance emotional intelligence and their potential to address gaps in women's health research. Picard also highlights innovative technologies aimed at improving sleep and breast cancer detection. Through interdisciplinary collaboration, she emphasizes how these advancements can bridge health disparities and transform medical practices.
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Affective Computing Measures Real Emotions
- Affective computing gives machines emotional intelligence by sensing and responding to human emotional signals.
- Rosalind Picard says wearables can monitor physiology outside labs to reveal real-world emotional states.
Early Wearable Prototypes From MIT
- Picard recounts early Media Lab prototypes like wrist sensors and earbuds that measured electrodermal activity and heart rate.
- These devices predated many consumer products and enabled out-of-lab physiological monitoring.
Wearables Can Close Women's Health Data Gaps
- Women have been systematically underrepresented in health research, producing large data gaps.
- Picard highlights that wearables can fill undersampled areas by measuring symptoms and sleep objectively.