“Apple began work on biometric sensors for both earbuds and for a wrist device back in 2007 as the iPhone was first being introduced,” Jack Purcher reports for Patently Apple.
“Apple’s patent filing publicly surfaced in April 2009 and was granted in February 2014 – the very year that Intel introduced a similar idea of smart earbuds using their Jarvis digital assistant to control it while a user was active,” Purcher reports. “Today the US Patent & Trademark Office published a series of three patent applications all titled ‘Earbuds with Biometric Sensing.'”
“In Apple’s patent filing they note that at least one of the biometric sensors within the earbud is configured to be pressed up against a portion of the ear known as the tragus that will allow the collection of biometric measurements,” Purcher reports. “Beyond biometrics, the earbuds/AirPods could deliver noise cancellation features.”
Read more, and see Apple’s patent application illustrations, in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: As we wrote back in June 2014:
Of interest: Apple Inc.’s U.S. Patent No. 8,655,004: “Sports monitoring system for headphones, earbuds and/or headsets.”
Apple’s patent abstract: A monitoring system that can be placed proximate to the head or ear of a user is disclosed. According to one embodiment, the monitoring system can be used with headphones, earbuds or headsets. The monitoring system can, for example, be used to monitor user activity, such as during exercise or sporting activities. The positioning of the monitoring system can also facilitate sensing of other user characteristics (e.g., biometric data), such as temperature, perspiration and heart rate. The monitoring system can also be used to control a an electronic device. In one embodiment, the monitoring system facilitates user control of the electronic device using head gestures. More info here.
From your ear to your wrist in the blink of an eye™.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Dan K.” for the heads up.]
“From your-rear” ain’t gonna catch on fwiw