In July last year, Bloomberg reported that Apple was planning a handful of health-centric enhancements for the AirPods, including a temperature sensor. The latest edition of Bloomberg’s PowerOn newsletter says Apple is exploring something even more ambitious and could put a camera on its wireless earbuds.
****
“The company is exploring the idea of putting cameras on the earbuds, along with more advanced AI and health sensors,” says the report. Currently under development under the internal project name B798, the company is reportedly aiming to add low-resolution camera sensors inside earbuds that chase a form factor similar to the AirPods.
This would be the first such attempt from any mainstream brand to put a camera sensor inside truly wireless earbuds. But there are some examples in a slightly modified form factor. E-commerce platforms like Amazon and AliExpress have listed neckband-style Bluetooth earphones with a camera sensor aimed at video capture, not snazzy fitness features.
So far, we have only seen audio gear capable of measuring heart rate. Last year, Google scientists used off-the-shelf noise-canceling earbuds and relied on audioplethysmography (APG) tech to measure a person’s heart rate without modifying the hardware. All it needs is a software update loaded with the necessary data collection algorithm to measure heart activity using earbuds that offer an Active Noise Cancelation (ANC) feature.
****
