Digital health and mobile health apps have been a hype topic, ever since Apple's App Store began the app-craze in 2008. The initial hype about mHealth has now cooled, which is good news in a way because it shows that mHealth has made the leap from hype to reality. The hype of healthcare apps has since been replaced by other hot topics. So, what is the "next big thing"? We want to have a closer look at chatbots in healthcare. What are these so-called chatbots capable of doing?

Healthbot, a Healthcare robot developed at The University of Auckland. In the image a user is interacting with Healthbot using a touch screen. Robots are gradually making their way into hospitals and other clinical facilities, providing basic assistance to doctors and patients. To facilitate their widespread use in health care settings, however, robotics researchers need to ensure that users feel at ease with robots and accept the help they can offer. This could potentially be achieved by developing robots that communicate in empathetic and compassionate ways.

Digital health and mobile health apps have been a hype topic, ever since Apple's App Store began the app-craze in 2008. The initial hype about mHealth has now cooled, which is good news in a way because it shows that mHealth has made the leap from hype to reality. The hype of healthcare apps has since been replaced by other hot topics. So, what is the "next big thing"? We want to have a closer look at chatbots in healthcare. What are these so-called chatbots capable of doing?

Digital health and mobile health apps have been a hype topic, ever since Apple's App Store began the app-craze in 2008. The initial hype about mHealth has now cooled, which is good news in a way because it shows that mHealth has made the leap from hype to reality. The hype of healthcare apps has since been replaced by other hot topics. So, what is the "next big thing"? We want to have a closer look at chatbots in healthcare. What are these so-called chatbots capable of doing?

The internet strongly agrees there's an artificial intelligence (AI) revolution going on, and it's come to pharma marketing. IBM Watson, the AI brain being infused all over healthcare, will form the backend of an interactive display ad for GSK Consumer Healthcare's Theraflu. The cold-and-flu product was one of seven brands, across four beta partners, to sign on with Watson Ads, an initiative announced this past summer by the Weather Co. -- an IBM property -- aiming to develop a new wave of ads that people will be able to communicate with. According to the firm, it marks the first consumer use of IBM's cognitive technology for advertising. "This is a whole new foray into marketing," says D. J. Reali, SVP, national ad sales for the Weather Co.