Future iPhones and Apple Watches could help improve your posture

Poor posture? Future iPhones and Apple Watches may help you with this — if you’re willing to be “tagged.”

Apple has been granted a patent (number US 11896115 B2) for a “Biomechanical Sensing System Using Wirelessly Locatable Tags.”

About the patent

The patent involves a posture-monitoring system for monitoring a body posture of a user that includes an array of wirelessly locatable tags. It includes a first wirelessly locatable tag configured to be positioned along a first shoulder region of the user and having a first battery and a first wireless circuit configured to transmit a first locating signal, a second wirelessly locatable tag configured to be positioned along a second shoulder region of the user and having a second battery and a second wireless circuit configured to transmit a second locating signal, and a third wirelessly locatable tag configured to be positioned along a back region of the user and having a third battery and a third wireless circuit configured to transmit a third locating signal. 

The posture-monitoring system further includes a portable electronic device including a processing unit and a wireless circuit operably coupled to the processing unit and configured to receive the first, second, and third locating signals. The processing unit may be configured to determine a characteristic of the body posture of the user based on the first, second, and third locating signals.

Summary of the patent

Here’s Apple’s abstract of the patent: “A posture-monitoring system for monitoring a body posture of a user includes an array of wirelessly locatable tags, including a first tag configured to be positioned along a first shoulder region of the user and having a first battery and a first wireless circuit configured to transmit a first locating signal, a second tag configured to be positioned along a second shoulder region of the user and having a second battery and a second wireless circuit configured to transmit a second locating signal, and a third tag configured to be positioned along a back region of the user and having a third battery and a third wireless circuit configured to transmit a third locating signal. 

“The posture-monitoring system further includes a portable electronic device including a processing unit and a wireless circuit operably coupled to the processing unit and configured to receive the first, second, and third locating signals.”