A new patent application describes how crash detection can be more accurate by using multiple Apple devices.
In particular, it is suggested that the use of motion sensors in AirPods could be used to detect incidents that could lead to head injury, without necessarily recording the impact on the Apple Watch or iPhone…
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Failure detection saved lives
Crash Detection had only been available for a month when it was first used to rescue a helicopter after a car slid down a mountainside in a remote canyon. The function detected an accident and activated an emergency SOS via satellite to call for help and send the location.
In particular, this feature can call for help even if the victims are unconscious, as was the case in the early morning pickup truck crash.
The feature recently saved the life of a man whose car plunged 400 feet into a canyon, with rescuers saying he likely would have bled to death if not for an automated call with location information.
But was criticized for false alarms
However, Crash Detection has also been criticized for causing false alarms, wasting emergency services’ time and resources.
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Back in October last year, it was discovered that false alerts were being generated by iPhone 14 and Apple Watch owners riding roller coasters.
The following month, the same thing happened to skiers: One 911 center said these unnecessary calls can be extremely time-consuming for rescuers, who have to assume they are real until proven otherwise.
Likewise, there may be failures that the function cannot detect, although it should.
Failure detection accuracy is not easy
In response, Apple executives explained that detecting failures is difficult. This feature uses multiple sensors, but there are no guarantees.
The gyroscope and accelerometer are just two parts of the sensor. The list also includes GPS to detect when the user is driving at high speeds, a microphone to monitor collision sounds, and a barometer to detect the change in pressure that occurs when the airbags deploy. […]
“There is no one-size-fits-all solution for activating an accident detection system,” says Huang. “It’s hard to say how many of these things should work because it’s not a simple equation. Depending on how high the speed was previously determines what signals we should see later. The change in speed coupled with the force of impact coupled with the change in pressure coupled with the sound level is a pretty dynamic algorithm.”
Patent describes how multiple devices could help
A new patent application discovered by Patency Apple describes how crash detection can be more accurate by using multiple Apple devices, including AirPods.
Apple says that by comparing the forces detected by the AirPods with the forces detected by the iPhone and Apple Watch, a more accurate picture can be obtained.
In one example of a portable impact detection device, the head-mounted device may include an ear piece. The earpiece may include a second motion sensor, an antenna, and a second processor electrically coupled to the second motion sensor and the antenna.
The second processor may identify threshold motion detected by the second motion sensor and cause the antenna to send a signal that includes the second motion data. In one example, a signal is sent to a portable concussion detection device.
In one example, a portable concussion detection device may include a wearable electronic device. In one example, the wearable electronic device is a smart watch. In one example, the wearable electronic device may include a smartphone.
Specifically, it will detect head or neck injuries that might only be missed by an iPhone or Apple Watch.
As always with Apple patents, it’s unknown which one will ever be released, but this one seems more likely than not.
Photo: Camilo Jimenez/Unsplash