Always wanted to know how old you are going to live? A new app calculates it based on your health and how active you are. Of course you have to take the rash with a grain of salt. Nevertheless, the app is interesting: we explain why.
Gero Lifespan: this app calculates your life expectancy
Gero Lifespan is an app that calculates how old you are going to live on the basis of your movement pattern. The program includes a pedometer, keeps track of how long you sleep and how many ‘activity changes’ you experience per day. For example, this looks at how often you get up from your chair per day.
The app mainly uses data from the Health app for this. Fitbit data can also be linked. In the Health app, for example, you have the ‘Bedtime’ function that keeps track of how long you sleep, and helps you to arrive at a healthy number for you.
Gero Lifespan uses this personal information in combination with data from more than 100,000 test subjects to estimate your life expectancy. Every week you will receive a report that shows whether your remaining life has increased or decreased. The app also immediately makes a suggestion as to what the change may be related to.
Also interesting: Guide: How to use Apple’s Activity app
Take the rash with a good grain of salt
You can then share these results directly on Instagram. Was the result not positive? Then you can start a ten-day experiment in the app, in which you change one part of your routine. Think of daily running, or going to bed an hour earlier. Of course Gero Lifespan only paints a selective picture, and you have to take the expectation with a (large) grain of salt. After all, no attention is paid to your diet, genetic basis and other crucial factors.
However, the makers behind the app, consisting of a team of international researchers, have big plans. The ultimate goal of the underlying study is to combine artificial intelligence (AI) and empirical data to sketch realistic life expectations.
To download
Gero Lifespan can be downloaded for free in the App Store. Keep in mind that the app collects a lot of data: not everyone likes this idea.
→ Download Gero Lifespan from the App Store (free)