Apple hasn’t delivered any major hardware-focused health breakthroughs on its recent smartwatches. The current-gen Series 10 smartwatch is mostly a slimmed-down avatar of its predecessor, and it appears that next-gen facilities like blood pressure monitoring continue to run into hurdles.
But Apple could add a different kind of sensor to its smartwatch, one that we are all too familiar with. According to Bloomberg, the company is planning to add a camera to the Apple Watch — both the mainline as well as the top-end Ultra model.
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“The current idea is to put the camera inside the display of the Series version, like the front-facing lens on the iPhone. The Ultra will take a different approach, with the camera lens sitting on the side of the watch near the crown and button,” says the report.
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Interestingly, Meta explored the idea years ago, but eventually killed the project. It isn’t clear how soon we are going to see these camera-equipped Apple Watch models hit the market. Moreover, there is no word on what exactly these cameras will accomplish. However, a quick look at Apple’s AI and health stack gives us a clear idea.
It could be a wellness boon
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The prime candidate would be Apple Intelligence. This feature lets users point their camera at any object in their view. The underlying AI model will accordingly scan the world as seen through the camera lens, and provide answers based on user queries.
For example, it could identify pets, pick up details from a poster, translate text, and just carry on a natural conversation based on where users point the camera. This feature is computationally quite demanding, which means the Apple Watches would need a beefy processor to handle it.
Apple could always make some functional cutbacks on how it executes Visual Intelligence on smartwatches. But we’ve already seen open-source options like HuggingSnap execute it on frugal resources — and with a totally offline approach — so it would be interesting to see how Apple moves ahead with utilizing cameras on an Apple Watch.
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The other possible avenue could be health. Apple has already implemented features such as Fall Detection on smartwatches, which automatically triggers an emergency alert, too. Adding a camera sensor would allow for improved accuracy and could assist emergency responders based on the visual data sent by the camera.
Likewise, it could assist users with workouts and open new avenues for telehealth consultation and guidance. Apple could tie it with the crash detection system on smartwatches, which has already saved lives. The Bloomberg report mentions the possibility of FaceTime calls, as well, but adds that it could be an awkward experience.
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