HANOI -- While there is no crystal ball that allows people to see what might ail them in the future, Hitachi believes its big data analytics can offer the next best thing.

The Japanese company has teamed up with a Vietnam insurer to apply big data analytics to assess how users' lifestyles put them at risk for certain diseases through an app.

Bao Viet Insurance, Vietnam's largest nonlife insurer, launched the risk-measuring app on Friday through a tie-up with Hitachi on artificial intelligence and medical big data.

With the Bao Viet Direct app, policyholders enter their health checkup data and medical history to work out their risk of eight lifestyle diseases and conditions, including diabetes and high blood pressure. The aim is to raise awareness about prevention as well as early detection and treatment of these diseases.

Over 3.5 million people in Vietnam are said to have diabetes, but only about 30% receive treatment, according to Hitachi.

The partners also plan to tap AI for other applications, including calculating premiums.

Bao Viet Insurance "wants to deepen its relationship with Hitachi," deputy general manager Do Hoang Phuong said Friday at a news conference in Hanoi as the two companies announced the alliance. "Hitachi will consider expanding the partnership to hardware," said Kazunori Sudo, general director of Hitachi Asia Vietnam.

Bao Viet Insurance, a unit of Bao Viet Holdings, operates about 80 branches in Vietnam, serving more than 1 million policyholders.