At some point the Apple Vision Pro may be able to tell when a user is running a fever or is having breathing issues. Apple has filed for a patent (number US 20240268682 A1) for temperature section.
About the patent filing
Apple says that respiration detection has been conventionally performed using a wearable band worn by a subject and/or using a flow-meter in line with a user’s mouth or nose (or both). However, these conventional methods aren’t designed for long-term user comfort, and can’t easily be integrated in head-mounted devices (HMDs), such as HMDs used in VR/MR systems.
Apple is looking into ways to change this by integrating thermal sensors into its spatial computer for estimating body temperature This could allow body temperature of a user to be measured with integrated thermal sensors while wearing a Vision Pro. The thermal sensors that may be used to measure body temperature in an HMD may include contact sensors, non-contact sensors, or both.
Apple says that contact sensors may be mounted on or integrated in a nose pad, a light seal, in a nasal mount, or elsewhere in the spatial computer. Thermal contact sensors may include thermistor and/or thermocouple technology sensors.
What’s more, non-contact sensors could be mounted on or integrated in a nose pad, a light seal, a nasal mount, or elsewhere in the Vision Pro. Thermal non-contact sensors may include, but are not limited to, passive IR sensors that include one or more pixels. Passive IR sensors may be used to measure temperature at the surface of the nose, or in other places such as the forehead, temple, or in the region around the eye.
Summary of the patent filing
Here’s Apple’s abstract of the patent filing: “Methods and apparatus for measuring biometric data including temperature in head-mounted devices (HMDs). Thermal sensors may also be integrated into the HMD and used to collect thermal data from the surface of the user’s face.
“This thermal data may, for example, be processed to determine core body temperature of the user, or be processed to generate estimates of the user’s respiration. The temperature data and/or respiration rate and changes to respiration rate derived from signals from the sensors may be used to generate and present biometric data to the user.”
About the Vision Pro
Demos of the Apple Vision Pro at Apple Stores in the U.S. can be reserved on Apple.com. To reserve a free Vision Pro demo online, go here, then follow the steps to book an appointment at your local Apple Store.
Pricing for the Vision Pro starts at US$3,499 with 256GB of storage. ZEISS Optical Inserts are available: $99 for reading lens and $149 for prescription lens.
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