Wearable devices have become very popular and useful in transforming different aspects of life, ranging from sports to health.
Apart from the traditional applied functions, wearables have emerged as critical tools within the legal system, especially in recording personal injuries.
The incorporation of such devices in legal proceedings has changed how facts are gathered, substantiated, and assessed, opening up new opportunities for establishing the truth and proving it.
The following blog post examines the significance of wearable technology in capturing personal injury cases, its advantages and disadvantages, and its potential impact on the future of personal injury practice.
Understanding Wearable Technology
Wearable technology encompasses devices that are mounted on the human body and which use sensors and software to gather data.
Some examples of wearable devices include smartwatches, fitness trackers, and medical devices such as continuous glucose monitors.
These devices monitor parameters like the number of steps taken, the heart rate, the quality of sleep, and in some cases, the geographical location of the wearer.
Wearable technologies are mostly linked with connected applications where the data collected is stored, shared, and analyzed to offer users information about their health and well-being.
The Relation between Wearable Technology and Personal Injury Law
In personal injury cases, the primary area of concern is usually the nature and severity of the injury. In the past, this hinged more on the clinical history, the accounts of witnesses, and the opinions of specialists.
Still, these methods may be subjective, contain incomplete information, or have little to do with real-time data.
This is where wearable technology comes in handy to provide concrete, real-time evidence that can support the claim of injury and its impact.
Objective Evidence Collection
A major benefit of wearable gadgets in personal injury claims is that they offer hard proof of the incident.
For example, a fitness tracker can provide information concerning the intensity of activity prior to an accident and after an accident, therefore providing concrete evidence on how an injury impacted on the life of the victim.
This can help to prove reduced physical abilities, at least in part, and therefore, the extent of the injury. A personal injury law expert in Corpus Christi can help you in maximizing your compensation through leveraging data insights from wearables.
Likewise, wearables can monitor one’s sleeping ability and, therefore, offer proof of a lack of proper rest caused by pain or irritation resulting from an injury.
It can be especially helpful when the injury has significantly affected the quality of the victim’s life, which is the main focus of the lawsuit.
The information gathered can be used in court as evidence to back up the victim’s statement on the incident, thus making the case more compelling.
Real-Time Monitoring and Documentation
Wearable devices provide data in the form of streams specifically for different parameters of health. This real-time documentation can be especially relevant if the injury and its consequences are not static but rather evolve over time.
For instance, a victim may be diagnosed with chronic pain, which may have fluctuations throughout the day, depending on the condition.
For example, a wristband containing a biosensor to monitor physiological activity like heart rate variability or galvanic skin response will allow for the constant measurement of pain level changes, giving a bigger picture of the injury’s effect.
In addition, it is particularly useful in situations where the injury is of a psychological nature; then, the wearable technology will record the physiological signs of stress and anxiety that will be essential in proving the psychological impact of the injury.
It can prove useful in cases where the psychological aspect constitutes a large part of the evidence, as such evidence is often difficult to adequately measure.