Comcast is pushing further into the health space with an in-home device designed to monitor users' health, people familiar with the project confirmed to CNBC.
Sumit Nagpal, senior vice president and general manager of health innovation at Comcast, has been working on the device for more than a year. The in-home health device is expected to begin pilot testing by the end of 2019 and potentially be commercially released in 2020.
Comcast's in-home device will monitor people's basic health metrics through ambient sensors. It will focus on if a person is making routine trips to the bathroom or spending too much time in bed. Additionally, Comcast is developing a tool to detect when a person falls.
Comcast plans to offer the device to at-risk people, including seniors and people with disabilities, however, the pricing and exact launch schedule is still unknown, CNBC reports.
The device will not be a communication or assistant tool and wont' allow users to surf the web or turn lights on and off. However, people familiar with the project said it will be similar to Amazon's Alexa. The device will also be able to make emergency phone calls if health-related events occur.
Comcast has also been in talks with various large hospitals, including Chicago-based Rush University Medical Center, reports CNBC. The meetings are focused on using Comcast's device to lower patient readmissions.
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