Apple’s popular AirPods may soon include features aimed at improving users’ ear health, according to a recent report by Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman. As the wireless earbuds are often worn for extended periods of time, Gurman believes that Apple will incorporate advanced health features into the AirPods to make it a more valuable health tool in near future. While the current AirPods and AirPods Pro are already favoured for their convenient and versatile design, Apple’s potential upgrades could take their functionality to the next level.
One possible addition to the AirPods could be the ability to “get hearing data of some sort” using the device. Another potential feature for the AirPods is the ability to track biometric data, such as heart rate and blood oxygen levels in the ear’s skin.
Patents and applications from the past have hinted that Apple could add biometric sensing capabilities in the AirPods. The devices could use a photoplethysmogram (PPG) sensor to track the heart rate and blood flow in the ear’s skin. This same technology is also used in Apple Watch. PPG’s are used to monitor user’s heart rate by beaming light on the adjoining skin and measuring variations in reflectivity. There’s also mentions of technologies like an electrocardiogram sensor, temperature sensor, impedance cardiography, galvanic skin response, and VO2 sensing in the patent documents.
Apple’s another patent for its biometric earbuds talks about a beamforming microphone array and its accompanying circuitry. The patent describes how AirPods use a voice accelerometer to activate a dual-microphone beamforming system that cuts down the background noise during transmission. Apple AirPods already come with Live Listen and Conversation Boost which can turn the device into hearing aids when required. The additional ear-health features to AirPods could further boost the popularity of Apple AirPods package.
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