Google unveils a health-focused smartwatch, Study Watch

Google has unveiled a smartwatch, which is way different from your 'average' smartwatch. Created by Alphabet's life sciences unit, Verily, the smart wearable christened Study Watch is designed to gather "the scalable collection of rich and complex datasets across clinical and observational studies."

"Today, we are proud to debut our newest investigational device, the Verily Study Watch. The ability to passively capture health data is critical to the success of continuous care platforms and clinical research. Study Watch represents another step in our targeted efforts to create new tools for unobtrusive biosensing," the Verily team wrote in a blog post.

Notably, the Study Watch doesn't run on Android nor sends push notifications. The wearable is instead meant for research and will be put to work in several studies including a multi-year project to identify patterns in the progression of Parkinson's disease, according to the team.

With long battery life, the smartwatch is designed for real-time algorithmic computations. It is also equipped with advanced sensors which collect the heart rate data in ways more efficient than any other monitoring device. Its also packed with onboard storage, so users don’t have to sync the device too often.

Verily said, "Multiple physiological and environmental sensors are designed to measure relevant signals for studies spanning cardiovascular, movement disorders, and other areas. Examples include an electrocardiogram (ECG), heart rate, electrodermal activity, and inertial movements."

The wearable will also be used for Baseline, a previously announced study dating back to 2014, which is designed to track the long-term vitals of 175 individuals, in an attempt to build “the fullest picture of what a healthy human being should be.”

There's no word on price, as the Study Watch is "not for sale." It's just something that will be given out to participants in Verily's medical studies.