AirPods may soon double as a personal health device.
According to the Wall Street Journal, the team at Apple is exploring ways to update their wireless earbuds with wellness-related features, temperature readings, posture monitoring, as well as hearing enhancement; but it’s unknown if the latter differs from the newly released “Conversation Boost” feature on AirPods Pro.
Sources tell the publication that the changes aren’t expected within the next year, and it remains unclear when, if ever, they’ll be introduced to the public. The WSJ also cited documents that confirmed Apple was exploring an expansion into the health care field. The tech giant, however, has not publicly confirmed the reports.
News of the upgraded AirPods comes just weeks after the WSJ reported Apple was working on an iPhone that could detect cognitive decline, anxiety, and depression. The technology would reportedly make the diagnosis by analyzing the user’s facial expressions, speech, heart rates, and sleep patterns. as well as the speed of their typing, the frequency of typos, and the subjects they write about.
Per the WSJ:
The efforts spring from research partnerships that Apple has announced with the University of California, Los Angeles, which is studying stress, anxiety and depression, and pharmaceutical company Biogen which is studying mild cognitive impairment. “Seabreeze” is Apple’s code name for the UCLA project and “Pi” is the code name for the Biogen project, according to the people and documents
Apple will kick off its “Unleashed” product event in less than a week. The online-only event will go down at 10 a.m. PT Monday at the Steve Jobs Theater in Cupertino, California.
