These are sensors...
Apple put sensors in the beats headphones for heart rate. And made the actual audio worse.
What do you think they'll do here?
Good question. I have an educated guess. There's a science paper
Melatonin and the Optics of the Human Body (2019) which notes: 1. The majority of our melatonin is in our mitochondria; it's used to neutralize free radicals which are occasionally produced in the Krebs cycle (AKA citric acid cycle) 2. Mitochondria melatonin production is facilitated by red light and near-infrared light; light at those frequencies travel a significant distance through our skin. 3. The addition of "Low-E" window coatings and narrow-spectrum LED lighting have dramatically reduced indoor red and infrared radiation. In short, our bodies function better when we get infrared light, and we ain't getting enough in our homes and offices.
The simplest way to raise infrared exposure is to get outside: every day at sunrise, every day at sunset, and frequently during the day. That's difficult for some people, especially if they're oblivious to the health impact of infrared radiation and have no means to measure it. That's why monitoring infrared radiation with new
AirPods and
Apple Watch models would be so valuable! Perhaps there will be real-time reporting/incentivizing how much infrared we're getting daily:
a fourth fitness ring.
Besides the melatonin optics science paper, there's a gargantuan number -- 8621 as of today -- of papers listed in the
Photobiomodulation Research Google Docs Spreadsheet .
Per a Reddit discussion, this database is maintained as a hobby by Vladimir Heiskanen (Finland) since 2016. All sorts of published papers exist on the use of low-power lasers and specialty LED bulbs for wound healing, toxin removal, bone health, cardiovascular health, diabetes mellitus, etc.
To coin a phrase, we've been in the dark about infrared radiation for a long time. Right before the 2008 Olympics, hackers figured out how to slap a filter on a popular camera model and generate high-quality IR images that would render most clothing invisible. The government blocked cameras that were the source of those creepy photographs; high-resolution infrared cameras are expensive and restricted to professional sales. The side effect of these restrictions is that we have no idea how infrared radiation works: how
stokes shifting of sunlight on leaves produces vast amounts of infrared radiation in the forest. We're also oblivious to the almost total absence of infrared radiation in modern homes and offices. It was just dumb luck that the old Edison bulbs kicked out about half their energy in the infrared spectrum; it's unfortunate that "efficient" LED lights have been optimized to eliminate that infrared radiation.
Note: there's also much disinformation about infrared light. Neil deGrasse Tyson has
a famous TikTok where he says that infrared light "is completely useless to you". That's bad science; I don't know how he came to that conclusion. I wish he'd fix that. NDT: follow the science!
Remember Tim Cook's statement back on January 8, 2019:
But I do think, looking back, in the future, you will answer that question, Apple's most-important contribution to mankind has been in health.
Was Apple already engaged in infrared light research and ways to motivate users to get enough infrared six years ago? I'd love to hear TC tell us someday.
I can’t think of many things that sound as pointless as a camera in an Apple Watch.
Hear, hear! Poor Gurman reports on what he hears, but he may not know anything about the optics of melatonin production in the human body.
I’d call these sensors rather than cameras. Cameras in your ears or on your wrist sound very weird as well as creepy.
Agreed. Calling them cameras made no sense. Maybe this labeling was deliberate misdirection sprinkled around by Apple.
I hope Apple is working as fast as possible to release products that can monitor infrared light. The world will change when they use their marketing might to shine a light on their solution. Apple will benefit, and we will benefit. At the same time, I'm annoyed at their effectiveness in keeping this idea secret. I wish the journalists out there would figure this one out... today.
