Make of it what you will, but Apple has applied for a design patent (number D771, 396) for a chair. The inventors are Kully Kraig Mandon, Andrew Charles Deffenbaugh, and Stefan Behling. Other than that the patent filing only has graphics (two of which are pictured).
Since Apple is really promoting health these days, perhaps it’s a chair such as the BalanceBall from Gaiam (pictured below) that’s designed to provide core strengthening, comfort and ergonomic back support and help to improve spinal alignment and reduce nerve compression. A study by Kansas State University says that people who spend more than six hours sitting each day are at higher risk of cancer, heart disease and diabetes.
Which means you need to be taking more standing breaks (at least once every 30 minutes). Perhaps Apple is interested in producing its own healthier chair.” iChair, anyone?
Apple has also been granted a patent (number 9,497,534) for a “sports monitoring system for headphones, earbuds, and/or headsets.” It may involve a sports version of Apple’s AirPods.
According to the patent, a monitoring system can be placed proximate to the head or ear of a user is disclosed. It 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.
