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

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.

Popular Stories

iOS 26 on iPhone Feature

Here's When iOS 26 Rolls Out Today in Every Time Zone [Update: Out Now!]

Monday September 15, 2025 12:00 am PDT by
Update 10:06 a.m.: iOS 26 is rolling out now, though it may take a bit for all users to see it, so keep checking! Today's the day! Apple is about to release iOS 26, which will deliver the biggest redesign since iOS 7 and bring a range of new features and improvements to iPhones worldwide. It's Apple's biggest software update of the year, and Apple announced at last week's iPhone event that...
Tim Cook Rainbow

Apple Reportedly Plans to Launch These 10 Products in 'Coming Months'

Sunday September 14, 2025 8:45 am PDT by
Apple's annual September event is now in the rearview mirror, with the iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Pro, iPhone 17 Pro Max, iPhone Air, Apple Watch Series 11, Apple Watch Ultra 3, Apple Watch SE 3, and AirPods Pro 3 set to launch this Friday, September 19. As always, there is more to come. In his Power On newsletter today, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said Apple plans to release many products in the...
apple n1 chip

Apple's New N1 Chip in iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Pro, and iPhone Air Has a Wi-Fi 7 Limitation

Saturday September 13, 2025 10:01 am PDT by
The latest iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Pro, iPhone 17 Pro Max, and iPhone Air models are equipped with Apple's all-new N1 chip for Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 6, and Thread connectivity. However, the chip has a Wi-Fi 7 bandwidth limitation. According to FCC documents reviewed by MacRumors, the N1 chip in all of the new iPhone models supports up to 160 MHz channel bandwidth for Wi-Fi 7, short of the...
iOS 26 Battery Glass Feature

Apple Says Installing iOS 26 Might Impact Battery Life

Monday September 15, 2025 10:56 am PDT by
In the iOS 26 release notes, Apple is warning iPhone users that installing the new software might have a temporary impact on battery life, which is normal. A new support document explains that major iOS updates require background setup like indexing data and files for search, downloading new assets, and updating apps. Further, Apple says that new features could require more resources,...
iphone 17 lineup

iPhone 17 Models Launch on September 19 With These New Features

Friday September 12, 2025 7:58 am PDT by
Apple will launch its new iPhone 17 lineup and ultra-thin iPhone Air in stores on Friday, September 19, and the company has already shown off the new devices at its fall event, which ran with the the tagline "Awe dropping." The iPhone 17 series brings a host of new features and enhancements. Here's a rundown of the biggest upgrades and changes: iPhone 17 Display Changes The iPhone...
iphone air all colors

iPhone Air and iPhone 17 Pro Now Facing Extended Delivery Estimates

Saturday September 13, 2025 11:43 am PDT by
iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Pro, iPhone 17 Pro Max, and iPhone Air pre-orders began on Friday in the U.S. and many other countries. iPhone 17 Pro Max delivery estimates quickly slipped beyond the Friday, September 19 launch day for those who had yet to place an order, and now the rest of the new models have started to follow suit. As of shortly after 11:30 a.m. Pacific Time today, select iPhone 17, ...
iPhone 17 Pro Air Boxes

iPhone Air and iPhone 17 Pro Boxes Revealed

Sunday September 14, 2025 1:36 pm PDT by
T-Mobile President Jon Freier today shared real-world photos of Apple's boxes for the iPhone Air, iPhone 17 Pro, and iPhone 17 models, which launch on Friday. Image Credit: Jon Freier Apple has typically included iPhone box renders in its product environmental reports, but it did not do so for the latest models. However, Apple's iPhone Upgrade Program page does offer some images of the boxes, ...
iOS 26 Feature

iOS 26 Available Now With These 8 New Features

Monday September 15, 2025 5:45 am PDT by
Following three months of beta testing, iOS 26 was released today, September 15. The update is compatible with the iPhone 11 series and newer, and it is available to install via the Settings app, under General → Software Update. Below, we have highlighted eight new features included in iOS 26. Even more new features and changes are outlined in Apple's release notes for the update. Some of ...

Top Rated Comments

vertsix Avatar
122 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
122 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
122 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
122 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
122 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
122 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)