Future Apple Watches may automatically detect your wrist size. Apple has filed for a patent (number 20220262025) for “touchless wrist measurement.”
About the patent filing
The patent filing generally relates to electronic devices that perform touchless wrist measurement and, in particular, to systems, methods, and devices that determine a wrist measurement or watch band size using depth data captured by a depth sensor of an electronic device.
Apple says that existing measuring techniques have various disadvantages with respect to measuring a person’s wrist. Such techniques may require special measuring equipment such as a body measuring ruler or tape that require contact with the person’s wrist and that may be cumbersome to use and subject to error. Apple thinks it can do better.
Summary of the patent filing
Here’s Apple’s abstract of the patent filing: “Various implementations disclosed herein include devices, systems, and methods that determine a wrist measurement or watch band size using depth data captured by a depth sensor from one or more rotational orientations of the wrist. In some implementations, depth data captured by a depth sensor including at least two depth map images of a wrist from different angles is obtained. In some implementations, an output is generated based on inputting the depth data into a machine learning model, the output corresponding to circumference of the wrist or a watch band size of the wrist. Then, a watch band size recommendation is provided based on the output.”
