Apple Patents Tech To Help You Track Your Sleeping Habits
The iPhone maker envisions a connected home that can tell when you’re asleep
In its latest healthcare move, Apple recently patented a method to more accurately determine when someone is asleep, using multiple devices as sources of data.
Apple has long been pushing into healthcare and wellness, with a core focus on building a personal health record — including sleep data.
The earliest hint of the tech giant’s sleep tracking strategy was its 2017 acquisition of sleep device startup Beddit. In early October, Apple also leaked a Sleep app for its Apple Watch, signaling its continued interest in health monitoring. This comes amid the wellness trend, as a growing cohort of consumers strive to achieve health- and wellness-oriented lifestyles, whether that be in improved diet, fitness, or sleep.
Apple isn’t alone in its push into healthcare. The recently approved patent (originally filed in 2015), titled “Confirming sleep based on secondary indicia of user activity,” comes among tech giants’ rapid expansion into the healthcare space, which we covered in our interactive post.
Below, we dive into how Apple’s latest patent works and what it could mean for the company’s dive into health monitoring.
HOW THE PATENT WORKSCurrently, most sleep trackers assume that a user is sleeping based on one source of data, such as a smartphone. But trackers are less accurate when they solely rely on data from one device instead of several.
Smart homes have an abundance of secondary sources: smart scales, refrigerators, or even toothbrushes can all be connected to the same network as a primary device. When in use, these devices can communicate with the primary device, signaling when a user is awake. The figure below illustrates potential secondary sources.
Smart wearables could also transmit user data to smart devices to identify users, even if they don’t “use” the smart device........MORE
And from 2018's "It’s Time to Give Firefox a Fresh Chance (GOOG)"
*****
....If you switch and feel some anxiety about not sending Google enough
personal information, the GOOG does have a couple non-Chrome options:1) 'Optical sensors' embedded in everyday objects could assess cardiovascular function and help users improve heart health" (GOOG)
Well isn't this a dream come true:
I am not putting cameras* behind the mirrors in the bathrooms, sorry.
Maybe behind the ones in the long hall.....
