Per the rumor mill, an upcoming generation of AirPods could feature built-in ambient light sensors (ALS) that could be used for health-related tracking purposes.
Industry sources have stated that ALS-equipped next-gen AirPods could be present in the “coming 1-2 years.” Taiwan-based ASE Technology would handle the backend manufacturing process for the component.
It’s rumored that ASE Technology would be applying the same silicon packaging process to the AirPods that has been used for devices that can “monitor heart rates, step counts and health conditions and even to conduct intelligent translation and detect head motions.”
In the past, Apple has filed patents for earphone health monitoring that would use light tomeasure heart rates.
Stay tuned for additional details as they become available.
Via AppleInsider and DigiTimes