“Integrating a version of Face ID into the Apple Watch would allow the device to emulate features of the iPhone X, including revealing notifications and unlocking when the user looks at the device, and potentially even allowing for video calls.”
Patent filings suggest Apple is exploring the idea of bringing its Face ID authentication system to the newest edition of its signature smartwatch, along with more sophisticated biometric sensors.
Reporting on the Face ID patent, Patently Apple emphasizes that bringing the infrared 3D facial recognition system to the diminutive face of the Apple Watch will be no easy fit, technologically, and so Apple may start things off by incorporating a simpler selfie camera into the Apple Watch Series 4 anticipated to launch this autumn, which would enable a more rudimentary form of facial recognition. Integrating a version of Face ID into the Apple Watch would allow the device to emulate features of the iPhone X, including revealing notifications and unlocking when the user looks at the device, and potentially even allowing for video calls.
The patent also describes how sensors could be built into the Apple Watch’s strap to enable more sophisticated biometrics. Concerned with tracking how users grip objects like baseballs and football clubs, the patent points to electromyography sensors that can track muscular electrical signals, and photoplethysmogram sensors that can track user movements.
Of course, the usual caveat applies – just because Apple has patented something, that doesn’t mean it’s actually pursuing the technology in a consumer product. But Apple’s consideration of these technologies may reflect an understandable interest in making sure that its new devices match the authentication capabilities of its flagship iPhone X, and that they represent a substantial step forward in biometrics more broadly.
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