What application primarily drove NASA's investment leading to home health monitoring spin-offs?
Monitoring the health of astronauts during long missions
NASA significantly pushed the technological boundaries for remote monitoring due to the necessity of keeping astronauts healthy and monitored throughout extended space missions. The investment into developing technology for space exploration directly led to valuable 'spin-offs' applicable to home health monitoring systems on Earth. The challenging and isolated environments encountered in space necessitated the development of miniaturized and highly reliable sensors and monitoring equipment. This rigorous requirement served as a perfect proving ground, demonstrating that sophisticated monitoring equipment could operate dependably outside of controlled hospital environments, thereby setting the stage for broader commercial adoption of continuous monitoring concepts.

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How We Measure Ourselves: The History of Wearable Tech - YouTube