Apple wants to improve the way the Apple Watch interacts with fitness devices

Apple wants to improve the way the Apple Watch interacts with various fitness devices as evidenced by a new patent filing (number US 20230092927 A1) for a “wearable computer with fitness machine connectivity for improved activity monitoring.”

About the patent filing

In the patent filing, Apple notes that some wearable computers such as the Apple Watch nclude a fitness application that uses a digital pedometer to track a user’s daily movements and provide customized notifications related to progress and workout results, such as distance traveled and calories burned. Some fitness applications also monitor the user’s heart rate, which can be used to calculate calories burned. 

Apple says that a typical digital pedometer relies on accelerometer data from an accelerometer to determine when a step is taken. If the wearable computer is worn on the wrist, accelerations due to arm swing may cause inaccurate step counts, resulting in inaccurate distance traveled measurements. However, the tech giant says the heart rate measurement, however, is often accurate due to the device being worn on the user’s wrist where the user’s heartbeat can be accurately measured.

What’s more, when a user works out in a gym, they will often use a fitness machine that includes a processor that monitors the workout and generates fitness metrics summarizing the workout. For example, a treadmill may display to the user the total distance traveled, elapsed time and total calories burned during the workout. 

Apple says the total distance travelled is typically accurate because it is based on rotation of the treadmill motor shaft rather than accelerometer data, but the total calories burned is often an estimate based on a model that doesn’t include the actual heart rate of the user. Apple wants the Apple Watch to be better able to track both distance and calories burned.

Summary of the patent filing

Here’s Apple’s abstract of the patent filing: “A  method of generating a calibration factor is described. In an example, the method may include establishing a wireless communication connection with a fitness machine. The method may also include obtaining first machine data from the fitness machine. The first machine data may specify a type of the fitness machine. 

“The method may also include initiating a workout session on the wearable computer based on the first machine data. During the workout session, the method may also include obtaining sensor data, obtaining second machine data, and determining the calibration factor based on the second machine data and the sensor data. The method may also include generating a workout session summary based on the calibration factor.”