01 HEALTH HACKING

It all sounds very Nineteen Eighty-four, but health tech is evolving faster than you can say George Orwell. The aim? To keep you out of your local GP surgery. The government has partnered with Amazon with a view to relaying health advice via the dulcet tones of Alexa. Over in Silicon Valley, Apple has been busy patenting blood-pressure tracking technology, as well as a pair of headphones to monitor the maximum amount of oxygen you can use during exercise. Elsewhere, engineers at Rutgers University, New Jersey, are developing sweat-analysing microchips. Integrating them into your tracker will mean non-stop monitoring of bacteria, viruses and environmental pollutants, as well as signs of ill health. Dr Siri will see you now.