Smartwatch manufacturers have been battling in recent years to bring the latest and greatest features to their wearable devices. Many of the exciting features produced by wearable manufacturers today are related to health and well-being. This is thanks to the high customer demand for health-tracking features which are suitable for wearables and set them apart from handheald smart devices. Apple are one manufacturer who have jumped heavily on the health tracking bandwagon with the 2nd and 3rd Apple Watch device. Recent leaked patents from Apple suggest that the number of health tracking features on the Apple Watch is likely to rise in future releases.
One big feature which would be very useful for those who like to use their smartwatch to monitor their health is being worked on by these two wearable giants. The question is, will Samsung or Apple win the race to this amazing smartwatch feature?
The Most Amazing Smartwatch of 2018?
Over the past few years we have seen incredible advancements in the technology used in wearable devices. Early smartwatches did very little other than connect to a smartwatch to send notifications to the wearer. It took a while for manufacturers to find something unique to wrist-based devices – even the first Apple Watch did very little that users couldn’t do on their iPhone. But the popularity of wearable fitness trackers did not go unnoticed and these amazing smartwatch features were very quickly incorporated into the second Apple Watch.
Apple have been working on some incredible features for their latest device, but they might just be outdone by the latest offering from Samsung. Both manufacturers will be hoping their device is the most amazing smartwatch of 2018 and this feature may be the one to pip their rivals to the post!
The Amazing Smartwatch Feature
A new patent filed by Samsung suggests that they may have produced a way to measure blood pressure through the watch. This feature could be incredibly useful for many users who need to monitor their blood pressure to ensure they are healthy. Apple have long been trying to incorporate this feature into their devices but it seems likely that they may be beaten to the punch by Samsung!
Samsung’s patent for this amazing smartwatch feature shows a light sensor would be used to monitor blood pressure. Many smartwatches currently use light sensors to measure a users heart rate. The description suggests that the light sensor will emit polarised light and sense the intensity of the scattered light to measure the blood pressure. This method of measuring blood pressure is a different one from the one which has been described on Apple’s patent. Apple aim to measure blood pressure by using a heartbeat measurement combined with a pulse created at the wrist. This method measures “pulse transit time” which is long known as a reliable way to calculate blood pressure.
Samsung’s patent for this amazing smartwatch feature shows an illustration of a watch called the Samsung Gear X, which may or may not be the name of the next Samsung Gear watch. It is unknown whether or not the technology will be ready in time for the release of the next Samsung Gear device. But it will be exciting to watch this battle between Samsung and Apple to produce a consumer device which can measure blood pressure. We will keep an eye on this battle to see who manages to bring this feature out first and which method turns out to be the most accurate!
Images: Kārlis Dambrāns, www.volganet.ru
