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It might actually be nice to have a simple camera on the apple watch to take actual photos. Some of those family watches have cameras, so when they "upgrade" to apple watch and lose the ability, I dunno, what do you think...
 
MR doesn't mention until the third paragraph, and not at all in the headline, that they would be infrared cameras. And saves for the final paragraph that the cameras aren't for taking photos, FaceTime videos, etc. Why not call them infrared sensors for clarity, MR?

So here come the comments from people who are outraged at the privacy concerns because they think these are cameras that work like iPhone cameras to capture photos and videos. Yay clicks!
Modern journalism FTW!
 
Big news:

We could live on Saturn AS SOON AS the year 7543.

or we could just say by 7543, and use less drama in the titles.
 
won't this make Airpods some kind of medical device? (when my cat swallows them and the Airpods take pictures of the inside of the cat as it travels)
 
Hmmm not sure about having cameras on everything. More battery life and even better noise cancellation would be preferred.
 
I’d call these sensors rather than cameras. Cameras in your ears or on your wrist sound very weird as well as creepy.
 
Now that Samsung will see this, they will be working overtime to do the same thing but bring it out sooner
 
It would be nice to be able to take 360 degree pics or video just standing there. Prey animals have eyes on the sides of their heads for a reason.....
 
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I'd rather have a proper flashlight on the AWU.

The problem with a wrist camera is how do you position it? The video call use case always sounds nice, but try holding up your wrist to aligned to your face, at face height to get a decent camera angle - it's not very comfortable. Otherwise, you are just going to get up the nose shots.

A camera just for AI would sound more interesting if apple intelligence was already useful. Even if it fed directly to chatGPT, I don't see a use case where I would use my watch over my phone.
 
MR doesn't mention until the third paragraph, and not at all in the headline, that they would be infrared cameras. And saves for the final paragraph that the cameras aren't for taking photos, FaceTime videos, etc. Why not call them infrared sensors for clarity, MR?

So here come the comments from people who are outraged at the privacy concerns because they think these are cameras that work like iPhone cameras to capture photos and videos. Yay clicks!
It’s called click bait and it’s all MR seems to do these days. I sometimes come to see the news here but I used to come regularly. In the last two years it’s really gone downhill. A real shame.
 
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Man. we've been waiting for Dick Tracy like FaceTime since the Apple Watch launched. and now the camera won't be available to shoot selfies or video calls? That is the dumbest move on apple. Wait until samsung comes up with a watch that does what people want and then 3 years later Apple will do it too...
This is getting ridiculous.
They might be getting close, though! We already have the Dick Tracey Wrist Radio. One of these days, we might see the Dick Tracey Wrist TV!
 
Mmmm I just wish they'd stop ramming AI down our throats. Thus far I haven't had a personal use case where it has enhanced my life in any way shape or form. Its making future job prospects less certain and thus undermining the earning power of us all. At work I've used it but haven't been impressed in terms of effort put in to get results out that actually improved anything it wasn't economically viable and frankly MS is already forcing charges on me for its use when I didn't ask for it. Will probably swap from MS office to something else for personal use shortly.

Ultimately whose going to buy all the MAc's, PC's Phone, TV's cars, holidays etc. When we're all out of work because they haven't yet got an economic model sorted out which can allow us all to be out of work whilst still covering pensions, health etc.

  1. I want my headphones to last longer on a charge, connect more reliably to multiple devices and sound better.
  2. I want the same for my phone.
  3. ... if AI isn't doing that for me then I'm not interested.
  4. I want less marketing and less intrusive advertising. I want one off payments rather than subscriptions. I want to be in control of my life.
 
The moment an Apple Watch with a camera is released, if it doesn't have a physical cover for the camera, men everywhere are going to get beaten up for having one in bathrooms. Guys are sensitive about this. Really dumb, but it's true.
 
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.
 
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