Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Can we get cameras in the Apple Watch please instead of these?? FaceTime would be cool on your wrist!!

Try holding your wrist up for just 1 minute, then come back and let us know how comfortable that was for a FaceTime call. Maybe a camera could be used for asynchronous messaging. Recording a short message, then sending, sure.

Cameras on AirPods would be used for Visual Intelligence.
What restaurant is this? What's this plant? What's this tool for? What colour shirt goes well with these pants? Send this sofa to my wife. Remind me of this restaurant menu sign when I get home.

Apple is making a big deal about Visual Intelligence because it's a practical use for AI that's not just a gimmick. They added an entire button to all iPhones (not just Pro) anticipating a wide rollout of this feature. I can see it becoming a part of AirPods to make it an even more natural and ubiquitous action in every day life.
 
“Hearables” is a real category of devices that will be ballooning in coming years. Two years ago I did a competitive intelligence project for class on competing fitness devices. Buds have a lot of room to grow in the space of health sensors and such. Just saying.
 
Just saying, cameras that can look inside your ear costs like €7. Maybe Apple just wants to make sure that people can enjoy the music with clean ears.
 
Try holding your wrist up for just 1 minute, then come back and let us know how comfortable that was for a FaceTime call. Maybe a camera could be used for asynchronous messaging. Recording a short message, then sending, sure.

Cameras on AirPods would be used for Visual Intelligence.
What restaurant is this? What's this plant? What's this tool for? What colour shirt goes well with these pants? Send this sofa to my wife. Remind me of this restaurant menu sign when I get home.

Apple is making a big deal about Visual Intelligence because it's a practical use for AI that's not just a gimmick. They added an entire button to all iPhones (not just Pro) anticipating a wide rollout of this feature. I can see it becoming a part of AirPods to make it an even more natural and ubiquitous action in every day life.
although not for the reasons you indicated, i do agree that putting infrared into Air Pods would be an exiting avenue for apple to pursue.

much like how the Air Pods have become medical grade hearing assists for the hearing impaired, if the camera were facing to the outside, infrared in Air Pods would be able to provide visually impaired persons with information about their surroundings.

its kind of interesting the way that apple probably is approaching both of these use cases.
being able to isolate frequencies and selectively amplify some of them turns out is good for hearing music better and for hearing improvement.
being ale to identify topographical contours around the listener helps hear music better and for providing additional information about the surroundings.

if its only facing inside the ear then it is clear it would be for body temperature indication.
 
Last edited:
Wait till you find out your local department of licensing takes a full scan of your face and uploads it to a government database. There should be no illusion of privacy. We don’t have it anymore.
There is always the option to just live in the woods 😝. Well the government does have to identify who you are via documentation and hopefully a photo, not everyone is an honest citizen.

Imagine saying Bill or this vague image of some person concealing their face is a suspect in a crime. Even security cameras are evasive to one’s privacy but some people don’t care, some do and it is how society functions. Even animals identify others by certain surface patterns, vocal sounds, scents etc.
 
There is always the option to just live in the woods 😝. Well the government does have to identify who you are via documentation and hopefully a photo, not everyone is an honest citizen.

Imagine saying Bill or this vague image of some person concealing their face is a suspect in a crime. Even security cameras are evasive to one’s privacy but some people don’t care, some do and it is how society functions. Even animals identify others by certain surface patterns, vocal sounds, scents etc.
It’s far more than a photo. They’re doing full on facial mapping/ recognition. And it’s not even optional. Moreover, they don’t tell you in person.
 
Cameras on AirPods would be used for Visual Intelligence.
What restaurant is this? What's this plant? What's this tool for? What colour shirt goes well with these pants? Send this sofa to my wife. Remind me of this restaurant menu sign when I get home.

Did you skip the part of the story where it said they are infrared sensors, not for taking photos? IR isn't going to help with any of those examples.
 
Did you skip the part of the story where it said they are infrared sensors, not for taking photos? IR isn't going to help with any of those examples.

Did you skip knowledge of infra red signatures?

Aside from the obvious object outlines provided by IR that enables object detection and recognition, it can do this in the dark.

Plants can be identified by both their shape and their heat signature in ways visible light cannot. Moreover, IR can determine the health of the plant, and even whether it needs to be watered or has been overwatered.

Ink on a menu or chalk on a restaurant sign are more easily distinguished and machine readable by infrared in any light conditions, including the low light of a restaurant or no light.

While Colours as we perceive them live in the visible light spectrum, materials reflect different IR signatures in ways that correspond to their visible light wavelength.

Lastly, Ming-Chi Kuo is a supply chain leaker. He rarely (ever?) has the complete picture (pun not intended) of all components. The pursuit of an IR camera for AirPods is one component he's come across. Gurman, whose sources are within Apple itself, has often talked about cameras (plural) on AirPods Pro. In the context of competing with Meta Raybans, it's clear that an RGB camera would be necessary.

If they're not competing directly with Meta RayBans, then IR flood and/or dot projectors could be included to make this a Visual Intelligence device. This too would make sense for Apple focused on privacy. IR cameras could do everything RGB cameras can do in the Visual Intelligence space while preserving privacy by not capturing full images.
 
Last edited:
Did you skip knowledge of infra red signatures?

Aside from the obvious object outlines provided by IR that enables object detection and recognition, it can do this in the dark.

Plants can be identified by both their shape and their heat signature in ways visible light cannot. Moreover, IR can determine the health of the plant, and even whether it needs to be watered or has been overwatered.

Ink on a menu or chalk on a restaurant sign are more easily distinguished and machine readable by infrared in any light conditions, including the low light of a restaurant or no light.

While Colours as we perceive them live in the visible light spectrum, materials reflect different IR signatures in ways that correspond to their visible light wavelength.

Lastly, Ming-Chi Kuo is a supply chain leaker. He rarely (ever?) has the complete picture (pun not intended) of all components. The pursuit of an IR camera for AirPods is one component he's come across. Gurman, whose sources are within Apple itself, has often talked about cameras (plural) on AirPods Pro. In the context of competing with Meta Raybans, it's clear that an RGB camera would be necessary.

Why don’t we see if they actually do this before we all get worked up arguing about what certain cameras can and can’t do?
 
On today's news... even more surveilance tech by Apple. 😢
That’s a cynical outlook. Regardless more tech is needed for more functional and supplementary tech features to this article provides.

It’s not like older iterations will stop working or that budget options that’s less functional won’t stop working.

Anti-tech progression is fascinating to hear with new hardware. You’re free to echo it being a discussion of course.

Tech surveillance is merely a weird way to echo and elaborate what tech privacy issues exactly you’re concerned about to be more helpful and encourage meaningful discussion about trade-offs.

Such tech is needed for spatial computing function—especially to be cheaper
 
  • Like
Reactions: KeithBN
Can we get cameras in the Apple Watch please instead of these?? FaceTime would be cool on your wrist!!
I would modify your request to say: Can we get cameras in the Apple Watch please in addition to these? I do a lot of photo-documentation where even a tiny AW Ultra camera might be adequate. And we already learned with smartphones that quick camera availability provides huge value add.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Jumpthesnark
Oh wow, oh wow.

The Vision Pro was DOA. Even the most conservative of sales predictions now look hilariously optimistic. It’s flopped, the consumers have said no to the mass market concept.

To double down on it by considering building products like the iPhone and AirPods with the Vision in mind is a breathtaking display of arrogance and ineptitude.

Sooner Tim Cook is sent packing the better I am afraid to say.
 
You can tell that a line of technology is done when things added sound stupid.

Things are done. They will only get worse now. We were at the pinnacle of sensibility just before LLMs turned up.
 
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.