Have you ever asked yourself how your Apple Watch is able to tell that you are washing your hands and even sets a time to ensure that you wash your hands efficiently? Despite the fact that it is allowed to wear it during such activities due to its water resistance, there is more to this great feature than just the sensors which detect hand movements or water splashes.
The Secret to Apple Watch’s Handwashing Feature
Despite the fact that most people think that the Apple Watch detects handwashing based on motion sensors only, the main secret is sound detection. This is because as soon as you begin to mimic hand washing gestures the watch’s microphone turns on so as to listen to the sound of water flow. If it recognizes the sound of a tap, it will prompt a step by step procedure on how long one is supposed to take while washing his or her hands. If the watch does not identify water then it may think that one is applying lotion on the face or arms.
Sound Recognition Beyond Handwashing
This hand washing sound recognition technology is not only applicable to hand washing only. Apple incorporates it into different services in its products. For example, the iPhone has the ‘Sound Recognition’ which can recognize certain sound such as the doorbell, a baby crying, or a dog barking and make a certain action. This feature can be programmed to make shortcuts or notifications with these sounds which may be helpful in many ways for instance in tracking a pet’s bark when you are away from the house or getting a notification of a knock on the door if one has a hearing impairment.
Privacy Concerns: Do not worry?
You could be asking, is Apple ‘watching’ you? Fear not, the sound data that these features rely on is encrypted and nobody bothers to listen to your recordings. The identification is performed directly on the device itself and has a set of predefined sound profiles which means that your privacy will not be violated. However, some people may still be concerned with this level of surveillance and it is crucial to understand that these capabilities are supposed to operate in the offline mode, without transmitting any audio to the servers.
You may have noticed this sound recognition feature? What is your opinion on the fact that your devices are now capable of listening to you in order to be of more help? Although some people may consider it as a disadvantage, others may view it as beneficial especially due to the fact that these sounds are not stored in the cloud.