What you need to know
- The U.S. Patent Office has granted Apple a patent titled “Wearable Device with Sweat Measurement Capabilities.”
- Sweat sensors measure the amount of sweat you sweat during your workout, both sweat rate and total fluid loss.
- Apple plans to incorporate other sensor data such as body temperature and local humidity to help contextualize the data.
Apple says it hopes to include electrodes in future Apple Watch models that will act as “sweat sensors” to track how much you sweat during a workout. Many patents never see the light of day, but this is one that both casual and serious athletes will appreciate, especially if implemented in other smartwatches.
The patent, “Wearable Device with Sweat Measurement Capability,” granted on February 15th, describes how a series of electrodes are placed into an Apple Watch sensor array as a “hybrid sensor” for both ECG and sweat measurements. It shows that. Patently Apple first discovered this patent.
In theory, a future Apple Watch Ultra would calculate a “user’s estimated sweat rate,” or “a measurement of the amount of water lost over a period of time.” The watch processes that data and displays to the user the average fluid ounces lost per hour or total.
According to the patent, users will also be able to see their “instantaneous” sweat production during the last 15 to 30 seconds of their workout, which could be displayed as a real-time metric on the watch.
To provide the most accurate data, Apple Watch takes into account external factors such as ambient temperature and humidity by checking the current weather forecast and GPS location. That way, if you’re sweating more (or less) than usual, Apple can take that into account.
“Height, weight, and body composition” will also be taken into consideration. We think Apple will eventually be able to measure body composition on your wrist like the Galaxy Watch 6 does.
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Despite Apple’s implementation of this sweat sensor, this data tells you exactly how many fluid ounces you need to replenish after a tough race. Or if Apple were to link sweat rate to body temperature. speed It helps you determine your health status as an athlete during your workout.
Some fitness watches, such as Garmin, now calculate an “estimated sweat rate” based on your pace, heart rate, weight, and other data. But Apple’s sensors provide real metrics. Marathoners and endurance cyclists would probably benefit greatly from that kind of data.
The only sensor we know of that comes close to Apple’s design is Fitbit’s Body Scan (EDA) tool, which measures “trace sweat levels” to calculate stress levels. Even if the Fitbit Sense 2 and Pixel Watch 2’s cEDA sensors work to measure sweat production, Apple seems to be keeping the idea to itself.
We’ll be very interested to see if Apple ultimately adopts this idea. Given Apple’s increased focus on fitness in recent years, sweat tracking fits right into that pattern.