Apple has been rumored getting their fingers into all sorts of areas lately. Yesterday we reported that Apple was looking into expanding into the medical and motoring industries. It seems like the Cupertino based company are once again looking for that “iPod”/”iPhone” moment within different sectors in the consumer market. Currently the it-word for mobile devices is fitness tracking and Apple are once again looking for avenues of innovation. Yesterday a patent was lodged with the US patent office where Apple discusses how skin-sensing technology could monitor a user’s heart rate, body temperature and perspiration levels. The kicker? All this technology will fit into your headphones…
This interesting patent was already partially lodged in 2007 and has a myriad of different applications. The patent mentions actions like head-tilting to adjust volume (will see how that pans out, especially for the more enthusiastic runners out there) through integrated accelerometers and other sensors. These sensors will be in constant communication with your iOS device. Alongside the already mentioned monitoring of a user’s heart rate, body temperature and perspiration levels the patent seems to vaguely mention the ability to judge the mental state of the user. There is no detail on how this will be done, but it will be a very useful after the fact analysis ability, much the same as manual user input after a workout (how do you feel quiz..)
The fact that this patent is already 6/7 years old doesn’t fill me with immediate confidence in the realization of such a concept, but the fact that the patent is continually updated does lend some credibility. The current mobile fitness craze is a market that Apple doesn’t want to miss out on. But will their innovative intentions cause them to miss the boat?
Source: Techradar
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