Apple Invention Shows that they're working on new Health Wearable Devices beyond Apple Watch

[Jacob Black]

The U.S. Patent Office published a patent application from Apple that covers systems, apparatuses, and methods for operating a wearable device dependent on whether or not the wearable device is worn. A wearable device such as a heart rate monitor, blood pressure monitor, fitness monitor, or other wearable device that attaches to a body part of a user (such as a bicep, an arm, a wrist, a neck, a leg, a torso, and so on) via an attachment member may operate in at least a connected and a disconnected state. One or more sensors (such as one or more photoplethysmographic sensors, sensors electrocardiographic sensors, galvanic skin conduction sensors, and so on) located in the wearable device and/or the attachment member may detect the user's body part when present, or may detect that a band or other attachment member is closed or otherwise placed in a connected state. Such detection may be used, in some cases with other data, to switch the wearable device between the connected and disconnected states. In this way, the wearable device may operate in the connected state when worn by a user and in the disconnected state when not worn by the user.

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Additionally, the attachment member may have a connected configuration where the attachment member attaches the wearable device to the user's body part and a disconnected configuration where the attachment member may not attach the wearable device to the user's body part.

In some implementations, the configuration of the attachment member may be detected and/or a sensor may determine whether or not the user's body part is detected when the attachment member transitions from the disconnected to the connected configuration.

Similarly, if the wearable device is operating in the connected state and the attachment member transitions from the connected configuration to the disconnected configuration, the wearable device may switch to the disconnected state. In this way, the operational state of the wearable device may be dependent on whether or not the wearable device is worn by the user while requiring less frequent detection of the user's body part using the sensor(s).

Apple's patent FIG. 1 noted in our cover graphic represents an isometric view of a system 100 for operating a wearable device 103 dependent on whether or not the wearable device is worn. As illustrated in FIG. 1, the wearable device is a heart rate monitor including a touch screen display 104 that is wearable by a user by connecting an attachment member strap 102 to the user's bicep 101. The wearable device may operate in a connected state when attached to the user's bicep and in a disconnected state when detached from the user's bicep.

Apple's patent FIG. 2A is a block diagram illustrating the relationships of components of a first embodiment of a wearable device that operates dependent on whether or not the wearable device is worn; FIG. 2B illustrates the first embodiment of a wearable device of FIG. 2A with the attachment member in a connected configuration.