What is the cost and ease of use of Validic and Human API?

Does anyone know the costs of using Validic and how it compares to HumanAPI.co?

Has anyone used Validic and have a sense of how easy it is compared to just interfacing directly to services like Apple Watch or Fitbit? We are concerned that Validic is just an additional layer of complexity and wonder if it actually makes it easier for end-users to share data to your service (as compared to writing interfaces directly.) Can anyone share their experiences?

Hello Praxiteles!

Full disclosure, I work for Validic.

In short, Validic is not a layer that will add complexity for your end-users. In fact, we greatly simplify the process for not only your end-users, but for your organization as well. We can deliver this services for less money and in less time than it would take for your team to build it out yourself.

I would be more than happy to tell you a bit more about our services via a phone call or through email. Additionally, if we determine that our services may be a good fit for you, I can certainly provide customer references and tell you more about how we may be able to work together.

Please feel free to reach out to me directly at corey@validic.com.

I look forward to speaking with you soon.

Corey van Spronsen
Senior Solutions Manager
Validic

Thanks for posting here Corey! (Drew has been a valuable contributor to our QS Public Health meetings and other events.) I’m very curious about how Validic is working in practice, as I hear a lot about the general challenges of maintaining data flows across APIs…

Was talking with a colleague who uses Validic and had great things to say about it. Kudos.

Hey @Agaricus ! Happy to join the QS community. Drew is nothing if not generous and willing to help. I would be more than happy to discuss Validic in greater length with anyone here. My email is listed above and I am here to take any questions you all may have.

Thanks @EricSF ! We are working hard to make it easy on our customers to gain access to all of their Digital Health data.

It turns out that Validic and Human API start roughly at about $12K/year for data feeds for 2,000 people. (i.e. roughly $6/year per person)

We made a case to the sales people at both companies that both companies are chopping off the long tail of innovation from their companies.

The N=1 community of QuantifiedSelf is filled with people who would innovate using their own personal data. But by forcing the first step to be 2,000 people, they are effectively shutting out that source of innovation and value creation for themselves.

The companies cited “support” as the reason they couldn’t offer a per person API. Classic Christiansen type disruption suggests that these companies will either need new pricing models to leverage that long tail or others in the future will rise to meet the needs of that community and form a source of disruptive potential.

For both companies to leverage that innovation in a manner that they can support, we would suggest that Validic and Human API consider creating a new pricing tier for individuals - something like a $100 setup fee and $10/month or something that balances the needs of the company with the needs of the QS community.

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Corey may be able to set me straight but I have a sense that neither Human API nor Validic are quite “plug and play” in the way they would have to be to serve individual users, but rather require there be developer-to-developer communication to troubleshoot the system as it goes along.

What kind of functionality are you envisioning for individuals? Perhaps the ability to aggregate data from multiple disparate trackers/wearables, normalize the data, view it in an app, and then have the ability to port that data (normalized and proprietary JSON) elsewhere, an app (oauth + API), or simple csv format?

People use motion and heart rate trackers, Withing scales, and Beddit sleep trackers and receive data but little insight across devices.

There’s clinical evidence that if you can drop resting heart rate, you will live longer.

If we had access to data from all these different devices, we could determine whether and to what extent any of these activities (walking, high intensity exercise, better sleep) is improving your resting heart rate.

Today, people manually have to figure out insights across devices themselves. In the future, each morning or each week, the devices themselves should tell you collectively what they discover about your health.

That future could be now if Validic and Human API opened up their APIs to N=1 customers like on this Quantified Self board.

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Hi @Praxiteles, I have taken great interest reading this thread and the contribution of yourself and others. Allow me to introduce myself, I am Rich Westman a Sports Scientist, formally of Leicester Tigers and Worcester Warriors and now the owner and founder of Health Analytics Start-Up Kaido. We exist firstly to aggregate health data from multiple sources (wearable, app, scale etc) and then secondly to derive insights from the health data using a combination of data science and the applied understanding of our team. We were founded by the belief that health data is only as useful as the actionable insights that can be derived from it and that for real value to be achieved there is a need to analyse multiple health parameters in one place and also in context. Our platform is currently only accessible to businesses but could very easily be integrated into a smartphone App that would allow you firstly to visualise data from multiple sources in one place and secondly receive regular insights as to how changes in one variable of your health are impacting others. From your experience this is something there is a need for? And that people would pay for on a monthly subscription? Any further comments would be very useful.

Hi Richard,

From a clinical perspective, the benefit of data from wearables has been shown in patients diagnosing pulmonary embolisms, Lyme disease, and presumably other conditions as well.

There are certainly other conditions and levels of fitness that could be diagnosed - but the clinical evidence, at least to date, seems somewhat lacking. That is certainly one area where there is a great need.

Once value can be clearly established, the answer to whether there is a business model could likely become much clearer.

Perhaps the most promising areas is in the emerging sensors including skin-worn glucose sensors and the emerging eNose technologies. These hold the promise of offering more health and fitness insights that matter.

Hi @Praxiteles - Have you considered GetHealth.io - http://gethealth.io/#pricing - the pricing is aligned with the needs of N=1 enthusiasts and the QS community.

Chintan