What you need to know
- A new Apple patent reveals the company is thinking about adding hydration measurement to Apple Watch.
- New technology from Apple could measure levels of electrolytes in perspiration.
A new Apple Watch patent reveals an Apple Watch could one day measure user hydration by measuring the electrolytes in your sweat.
A new patent for Apple published today is titled 'Hydration measurement with a watch' and its abstract states:
Hydration measurement capabilities can be provided by a wearable electronic device, such as a watch, to allow a user to easily track hydration. A watch can be positioned to receive and measure one or more electrical properties of perspiration produced by the user wearing the watch. The watch provides electrodes for measuring the electrical properties of the perspiration. The electrical properties, such as electrical conductance, can represent a concentration of electrolytes in the perspiration, which in turn represents a hydration level of the user. The hydration tracking can be performed non-invasively, repeatedly, accurately, automatically, and with minimal user intervention. The measurements can be used to provide useful feedback and health tracking information to a user, thereby allowing the user to better manage hydration and overall health.
The new patent would be designed to monitor hydration and dehydration in the context of both sporting performance and general health in tandem with current measurements like heart rate and blood oxygen monitoring. The system works by measuring the electrical properties of sweat, correlating the measurements with a concentration of electrolytes in the sweat and using this to determine hydration.
Just an idea on paper, this technology definitely won't be around for Apple Watch Series 7, but could one day debut in an Apple Watch of the future to build on the device's pretty excellent health monitoring capabilities.
