A device with health functions like the Apple Watch, even if it obtains the approval of medical entities, can never be considered as valid an instrument as those of a medical center. However, they are getting closer thanks to advances in infrared sensors like the one that the Rockley company has just announced.
They named it the “Bioptx Biosening Band” and although its description is much more complex, it can be summarized as an all-in-one, given that With a single sensor, different measurements can be carried out which until now required several sensors. And this could reach commercial devices such as Apple Watches with obvious advantages.
Heart rate, body temperature, hydration levels and more in one sensor
What the Rockley company announced is actually a prototype smartwatch that doesn’t even have a screen or operating system. The important thing is the sensor it integrates. A “spectrophotometer capable of probing millimeters into the dermis and collecting data from an immediate space between blood vessels and cells.” Unless you have special knowledge of the subject, it will sound like Chinese to you. Truth?
To understand it better, we will say that what this new sensor implies is that Measurements such as heart rate, temperature, heart rate and even hydration level can be taken with a single element. This, logically, would replace the different sensors that currently integrate smart watches like the Apple Watch and with the principle of not being invasive by also emitting infrared lights capable of taking precise references of the health parameters that we are looking for at any time .
Far from being a technology simply presented to be sold to manufacturers, it is something that more or less involved them. In an interview with Advnture a year and a half ago, Rockley CEO admitted to work with six major wearables companies. And although he did not confirm any of them, he said that they were six of the top ten companies and Apple was one of them, we cannot exclude that Cupertino already knew about this development before its presentation .
Of course, for now It has not yet been confirmed which brands will offer it.. Although this could start to be revealed in the coming months, it is also possible that they are still in the negotiation phase with the manufacturers.
It has obvious advantages, but also some drawbacks.
This is what the “Bioptx Biosening Band”, the smart watch prototype presented by Rockley, looks like
In the absence of exhaustive testing of this technology, the future of the smartwatch industry does not look bad. Although this is a patented technology that manufacturers will have to pay for, it could provide indirect savings. Not in vain, they would avoid the installation of a multitude of sensors who would now be covered by it.
This could be positive for add other sensors with new functions and even a bigger battery without sacrificing the size of the watch body. As for Apple, there have been rumors for years about a sensor capable of detecting blood pressure, which could actually debut on the Apple Watch.
While this seems useful on paper, it will require a better position on the wrist to be accurate in the measurements.
The thing is, although these new sensors are already designed to integrate with the others, their implementation could be much simpler if the other sensors that the Apple Watch already has were eliminated. And all this, without giving up the functions that they present, since we can already see that with this new Rockley sensor they would be covered.
Now, like almost everything in life, Rockley’s technology is not perfect and it has several fronts to improve if they truly hope to be useful to the user and, therefore, make the manufacturers pay. The main fault attributed to it is that will need to be completely attached to the skin for accuracybecause no beam of infrared light can escape.
Although it depends on the appearance of the watch case that incorporates it and the condition of the user’s wrist, as a general rule it should be placed a little higher than we usually wear it, thus ensuring its position in a moving part. less.
By | Fandroid
More information | Rockley
In Applesfera | The lifespan of your Apple Watch is coming to an end: 3 signs that it’s time to change your watch
In Applesfera | iPhone SE 4: release date, price, models and everything we think we know about them
