Apple’s AirPods would be on the verge of getting a whole new fitness dimension.
Apple’s patents give strong indications as to what the company will reveal next. That said, the AirPods (or AirPods Pro) patent just released may tell us what Apple has in store for users of their popular ear-to-ear headphones. And it comes in the same week as rumors of a new virtual training service from the company.
What’s more, let’s slip the patent that Apple has a whole new accessory in mind to work with the AirPods or AirPods Pro. The patent does not say on which version of Apple headphones it may apply.
Here’s what we know.
Contextual audio
The patent, filed by Patently Apple, focuses on a contextual audio system, “to adjust audio playback in response to position data”. It can use a portable audio device, such as headphones, say, and “optionally a sensing device”.
Although published in the last few days, the patent was originally filed in March 2019, indicating that Apple had time to work on it so it could be ready soon.
And how do we know that the patent is related to fitness and health aspects? That’s easy. The patent gives it away in the slightest sense: one of the inventors is Jay Blahnik, Senior Director of Fitness for Health Technologies at Apple.
Blahnik is passionate about his fingertips on health, dedicated to improving the fitness capabilities of Apple products, renowned for classes that sell out routinely and only, one would expect, due to the distinctions he has made over the years guaranteed.
Look at his name on a patent and you know without further ado that it will be health focused.
The patent is designed to change the audio output in response to received data. This can be achieved through various systems, such as the portable audio device being a first responder; the contextual audio system further includes a second earbud in communication with at least one of the first earbuds as the sensing device; the sensor device is one of a smart watch rather than a smart phone; adjusting the audio output includes stopping the audio output. ”
That, that’s an earbuds like an AirPod or AirPod Pro plus an iPhone or an Apple Watch, presumably.
The rationale for the patent is that our portable gadgets, and I quote, “have given users an unusual amount of content to consume in almost any setting.” This has the side effect of taking over or distracting us. Well, we can all relate to that.
How AirPods or AIrPods Pro can respond to your bike.
Play as you ride
When the system detects that you need to pay better attention to your surroundings, it adjusts the audio coming from the earbuds. So if, for example, you cycle, which is repeatedly mentioned in the patent, it can use what it calls position data. This means data on “location, movement, velocity, acceleration, weight distribution, balance or other spatial location and / or orientation.”
The patent provides the example that it can use, for example, GPS data to determine that the carrier is on or along a road where attention is required. The earbuds can be used to “play a warning”, it states. The goal is to “improve a user’s security or direct a user’s attention.”
It goes into more detail, specifying that it could determine which side of the road the user is on, and therefore which earbud is heading to the road, for example. Once it decides out of position and speed, it can start with a playlist for bikes. It can determine the rider’s speed with GPS, accelerometer and gyroscope data, say, and if the speed is determined to be above a certain threshold, it can adjust the audio. It can find out if cars like other people are on or near the road and react accordingly, perhaps by muting the music or quelling it in the earbud near the road.
Not standing up straight? AirPods or AirPods Pro could let you know if this patent expires.
Customize your posture!
But the patent goes much further than you just warn when you ride. It could also be used for other situations, if you are not on a bike. Then it can be used to mock when a bearer lies to the right and responds with a message that says, “You can improve your attitude by changing your attitude!”
The Apple AirPods Pro patent hints at a very cool fitness mat.
The new accessory
That’s where the new Apple device comes from. The patent provides the example of a workout mat that would be used as a sensing device with pressure sensitivity or, as the patent calls it, “a set of capacitive force-sensing nodes.” These would “detect a location of a person standing on the sensing device” and could detect the weight distribution of the user.
So, what is it for?
The patent shows that one goal for such a workout mode would be for yoga. “The user may be sitting in a yoga pose, but their positioning may be a bit off if otherwise suboptimal for the position.” In this case, you may hear a message in your ear encouraging you to improve your Downward Dog or Tree Pose!
When can I have it?
I think this is one of the most intriguing Apple patents and I would very much like to get an Apple Mat as it is also called. But, as always with Apple, it’s worth remembering that patents can take time to come to fruition, if they’re ever realized.
Fingers crossed.
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