The blogosphere is buzzing about Apple’s proposed smartwatch, and Future Tense blogger Lily Hay Newman speculates that the iconic brand may incorporate a sleep monitoring tool into the new device.
“For all the rumors about Apple’s smartwatch, no one outside Cupertino knows yet exactly what the company is going for,” writes Newman. “One of its new hires, according to reporting by 9To5Mac, is providing some clues, though…Apple wouldn’t be the first to incorporate sleep-monitoring tools into a mobile or wearable device. Sleep trackers are already a staple of mobile apps like SleepCycle, fitness wearables like FitBit, and even bed sensors like Beddit.”
Apple would join many apps that already take advantage of accelerometers and gyroscopes to collect various sorts of biometric data, but Newman points out that Apple has yet to release a native product that does fitness or lifestyle tracking.
“An ideal sleep app might involve suggesting optimal wakeup times based on your sleep cycle, recommendations for sleeping while traveling, and more,” she writes. “Apple has been doing a lot of hiring in the realms of biometric sensing and wearable devices lately, but the prospect of better night’s rest may be the long-awaited Apple watch’s most compelling use case yet.”
Many bloggers have come to refer to Apple’s smartwatch as iWatch, though no specific name has been released. Apple’s iconic status will test the wearable market, and the role of sleep-related elements on the iWatch could signal how far proper sleep has infiltrated pop culture.
