Apple Hires Former Nest VP and Robotics Expert Yoky Matsuoka for Health Team

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yokymatsuokaApple recently hired Nest's former Vice President of Technology to work on health related projects at the company, reports Fortune. Yoky Matsuoka, a well-known robotics expert who co-founded the Google X experimental project lab, joined Apple after leaving Nest last year. At Nest, she led the development of machine learning algorithms for the Nest Learning Thermostat.

At Apple, Matsuoka is working under the company's chief operating officer Jeff Williams, who is in charge of Apple's health initiatives like ResearchKit, HealthKit, and CareKit.

Prior to working at Google and Nest, Matsuoka was the director and founder of the University of Washington's Neurobotics Laboratory, focused on building a robot-human system to help individuals who experience strokes, spinal cord injuries, and traumatic brain injuries with rehabilitation and regaining/enhancing motor control. She is known for her work on robotic hands.

Matsuoka has experience in robotics, machine learning, and artificial intelligence, all areas Apple has expressed interest in through recent acquisitions like VocalIQ, Emotient, and Perceptio. According to Fortune, Matsuoka will be working on health-related projects, but the report does not include specifics on what she will be doing or how her robotics expertise might be applied to Apple products.

Top Rated Comments

vertsix Avatar
vertsix
69 months ago
Dear beautiful lady, please put a GPS chip in the next Apple Watch so I can leave my iPhone at home when I go on long distance runs.
"Dear beautiful lady, please put a GPS chip on the next Apple Watch so the battery life lasts nothing."
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Jakeoster Avatar
Jakeoster
69 months ago
No innovation in the pipeline.

Apple is laser focused on watch bands and battery cases.


/s
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
pdaholic Avatar
pdaholic
69 months ago
Dear beautiful lady, please put a GPS chip in the next Apple Watch so I can leave my iPhone at home when I go on long distance runs.
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Rogifan Avatar
Rogifan
69 months ago
Loading up the VP team and bloating the company!
Yeah her resume sure sounds like bloat. :rolleyes:
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
JCrz Avatar
JCrz
69 months ago
Tim Cook's recent media appearances and this recent hire further back up my theory that Tim Cook is a robot. She was actually hired to be his doctor/mechanic.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
pdaholic Avatar
pdaholic
69 months ago
"Dear beautiful lady, please put a GPS chip on the next Apple Watch so the battery life lasts nothing."
Oh sorry, you're right, once there's a gps chip in place there's no way to turn it off when it's not needed. Silly me.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
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