Apple Watch Fall Detection could be even better.
When Apple unveiled the Apple Watch Series 4 in September 2018, it introduced Fall Detection, a very useful feature that can add new aspects to make it much more innovative. That is according to a new continuation patent, revealed this week.
In the patent, it becomes clear that future Apple Watch models will need a hardware upgrade to improve the system.
As reported by the continuously growing Patently Apple, the new patent is designed to take the Fall Detection capability further. How it works right now is that if you fall hard, the Watch will see it.
Some of the things Apple Watch looks like: flip, not secure.
It then starts controlling your movements and after a minute of immobility, it starts a countdown of 30 seconds and taps you on the wrist while sounding an alarm that increases in volume to alert someone nearby. It can then notify others by calling them, such as family members, caregivers, or even the emergency services. It may also sound an alarm. Before making those calls, the Watch taps you on the wrist to ask if you are okay. You can choose to say “I’m OK” to clear the alert or to call emergency services.
The feature is enabled by default on Apple Watches belonging to those over 55 years of age, otherwise it is enabled in a setting.
So, what is being offered in the new continuation patent?
There are three new patent claims. Two simply explain that the device they are referring to is a portable mobile device and, specifically, a smart watch.
The third is the main claim. It states: “A system consisting of: one or more Processors; one or more sensors; and store one or more non-transition computer readable media instructions which, when executed by the one or more Processors, perform the one or more Processors operations comprising: Receiving motion data obtained by the one or more sensors over a time period during which one or more sensors are carried by a user… ”
If you fall, Apple Watch may warn others. Note the very dated icon for a mobile phone!
There’s much more of this kind of writing and many marks to the analytical mind of Jack Buyer at Patently Apple for reading all this carefully. Maybe it should be called Patiently Apple.
The key facts are that Apple is giving itself space to upgrade this system with more sensors and processors, which may indicate that although the current Fall Detection works with existing sensors, more will be added to improve the feature.
This can be a game changer, as enabling the system can add more data to the notification it generates, so that when it contacts emergency services, the information it provides is comprehensive and, potentially, life-saving. .
Apple Watch has other cool health features, like taking an ECG on your wrist.
As Pately points out, “health metrics that may be calculated with the electrodes include, without limitation, cardiac function (ECG, ECG), water content, body-fat ratios, galvanic skin resistance, and combinations thereof.”
For an eloquent and detailed illustration of what this might mean, 9to5Mac’s Ben Lovejoy describes exactly what the emergency responder might hear when they answer the phone: ‘This is an automated emergency call on behalf of John Appleseed. John is a 38 year old man who has had a hard fall, and is unresponsive. His current location is at 767 5th Ave, New York, NY 10153. John’s current heart rate is 33 beats per minute. His normal resting heart rate is 42 beats per minute. John is 5 feet and 11 inches tall and weighs 168 pounds. His BMI is 23.5 and his body fat is 22%, both within healthy range. He shows no sign of afib. John takes regular exercise, and the health data on his phone does not record any known medical conditions other than medication. This message is repeated three times, with updated heartbeat. ”
All in all pretty cool. Of course, the usual disclaimer applies, that a patent does not always achieve fertility in a product. But in this case, let’s hope it does.
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