Ars: Inside Apple's ResearchKit


John Timmer:

More generally, simply opening up a large fraction of the smartphone-using population has some significant implications for research. "Typically, the number of participants in a clinical study are limited by geographical constraints and the cost of consenting and enrolling subjects in person," Bridges [CEO of LifeMap Solutions] told Ars. "With ResearchKit, data can be captured in real time from a far larger, more geographically distributed, and more diverse subject pool at much lower cost." Bridges said that in the first week of its release, an app he worked on with Mt. Sinai researchers was able to enroll and obtain informed consent from more than 4,500 participants.

ResearchKit may have a positive impact on Apple's bottom line by with the research community promoting the iOS ecosystem and Apple's hardware. Bigger impact, however, may be just making the world a better place.