Future Apple Watch models might use your sweat to see if you’re healthy،
Some people like to sweat because it indicates that they have benefited from an intense workout. Others hate sweating because it means they are too hot or have been placed in an uncomfortable situation. But who knew that their sweat could be used to collect data containing information about their health? Apple engineers did it, which is why the company filed a patent application titled “Wearable devices with sweat measurement capabilities.”
The device that Apple is focusing this patent application on is of course the Apple Watch. And if it's not clear from the idea written in the application that the sweat “will provide the user with information relating to his or her health and fitness,” the illustrations accompanying the patent application are clearly those of an Apple Watch.
Apple says in the application filed with the
United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO, via
ObviouslyApple), “Other embodiments relate to a device for calculating a sweat metric of a user, the device including a housing having an exterior surface facing the skin, a sweat sensor that includes a first electrode and a second electrode, and a processor configured to calculate the sweat metric using the sweat sensor. Apple adds that a second sweat sensor could be included and that measurements from that sensor could be used to calculate the sweat metric. The latter could be stored in the memory of an Apple Watch.
Sweat sensors would be found on the back of the Apple Watch
The patent application also states that when an Apple Watch user exercises, such as walking, running or cycling, the device can calculate an estimated sweat rate “over a first time interval corresponding to the exercise session. This will help the user to know about the total fluid loss during the session. » A shorter time interval, perhaps five seconds, can be used to provide an instantaneous sweat rate so that the user “can understand their current rate of fluid loss at any given time during the exercise session , as well as their total fluid loss during the exercise session.
Not every patent application filed by Apple results in a new patent. And not every new patent becomes a new feature on an Apple device. However, it makes sense for the Apple Watch, although the tech giant will have to come up with a name for the feature that doesn't make users sweat.
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