Consumer Health at CES, Need An App For That?

The 2010 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) held in Las Vegas showcased countless consumer-facing health applications, from mobile phone apps to home health monitoring. There were both a Digital Health Summit and a Silvers Summit held at the Show, featuring a mix of hardware, software and — importantly — service.   According to Jane Sarasohn-Kahn, but not all vendors at the show were techno-optimists when it came to actually selling direct-to-consumer. “We can’t invest further in all things required because we don’t see a market,” said the director of technology programs for Sharp Laboratories of America, Deepak Ayyagari, according to MSNBC. What’s the primary barrier to market development? The consumers themselves, Sharp believes. Notwithstanding a growing veritable buffet of apps (e.g., Intel unveiled its app store at the CES), home monitoring hardware, and health games, no one really yet knows what the consumer will pay for such offerings.

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