A pair of patent applications published today by the U.S.
Patent and Trademark Office and spotted by AppleInsider describes how an electronic device such as an
iPhone, iPad or even a wristwatch could be used to detect ambient conditions
such as temperature, pressure, humidity and sound. The applications appear just
as Apple has been rumored
to be incorporating such functionality into the iPhone 6, and the company's
rumored iWatch has also been said to include an array of sensors.
The first patent, titled "Electronic Devices With Environmental Sensors," describes a device equipped with a speaker, microphone and a suite of sensors to monitor environmental conditions in the immediate surroundings. Sensor components may include a temperature sensor, a pressure sensor, a humidity sensor and other sensor combinations.
An electronic device may be provided with environmental
sensors. Environmental sensors may include one or more environmental sensor
components and one or more acoustic components. Acoustic components may include
a speaker or a microphone. Environmental sensor components may include a
temperature sensor, a pressure sensor, a humidity sensor, or other sensors or
combinations of sensors for sensing attributes of the environment surrounding
the device.
The second patent, "Electronic Devices
With Temperature Sensors," is more specific, covering
electronic devices that can monitor ambient temperature. In this scenario, a
thermal sensor could be embedded into a button, switch or slider component. A piece
of thermally conductive metal could be used to transfer temperature data from
the air or from an item such as a finger placed on the material to a sensor
embedded within the device.
Though these are inventions and not a specific feature roadmap for future devices, they do suggest Apple is considering the ways in which sensors could be incorporated into a device to improve the overall user experience. For example, Apple could use the temperature sensor technology to build an iWatch that could warn you when you are starting to overheat while mowing the lawn in the high summer heat.
Looking beyond the patent applications, Apple has been hiring experts from the health and medical sensor field in recent years. The long list of new hires include former Philips sleep researcher Roy J.E.M Raymann, biosensor hardware engineer Nancy Dougherty, pulse oximetry expert Michael O'Reilly and others. These engineers allegedly are joining Apple to work on its iWatch team, which may also include exercise physiologists and other non-hardware experts.
Apple's iWatch is rumored to include biometric functions such as pulse rate, blood oxygen saturation, glucose levels and more. Apple is said to be making the health-tracking experience more accessible to the general public and may use the iOS 8 Healthbook app to compile this health and fitness data and present it in a user-friendly way.
Though these are inventions and not a specific feature roadmap for future devices, they do suggest Apple is considering the ways in which sensors could be incorporated into a device to improve the overall user experience. For example, Apple could use the temperature sensor technology to build an iWatch that could warn you when you are starting to overheat while mowing the lawn in the high summer heat.
Looking beyond the patent applications, Apple has been hiring experts from the health and medical sensor field in recent years. The long list of new hires include former Philips sleep researcher Roy J.E.M Raymann, biosensor hardware engineer Nancy Dougherty, pulse oximetry expert Michael O'Reilly and others. These engineers allegedly are joining Apple to work on its iWatch team, which may also include exercise physiologists and other non-hardware experts.
Apple's iWatch is rumored to include biometric functions such as pulse rate, blood oxygen saturation, glucose levels and more. Apple is said to be making the health-tracking experience more accessible to the general public and may use the iOS 8 Healthbook app to compile this health and fitness data and present it in a user-friendly way.
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