Name: Future iPhones could use laser detection of poisonous gas, air quality, or pollen | AppleInsider
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Future iPhones could use laser detection of poisonous gas, air quality, or pollen | AppleInsider

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&nbsp;By19 hours ago&nbsp;&nbsp;A future Apple Watch or iPhone may warn users about poisonous gas or pollen in the local environment, with Apple coming up with ways to reliably sense the air using a combination of lasers and other sensors. While not something people think about all the time, the air is an important element of life, but it is also potentially hazardous. Invisible issues could be in the air, such as pollen or poisonous gas, with it and other potential irritants able to cause harm to a person if inhaled in sufficient quantities. Though items such as carbon monoxide detectors exist in the home and in portable forms, sometimes the compact versions aren't small enough to easily carry around. Ideally, adding a gas detector to an item a user carries around or wears every day, such as a smartphone or smartwatch, would offer greater levels of protection, but current systems are not capable of being embedded in such a way. In a granted to Apple titled "Particle matter sensors for portable electronic devices," Apple suggests such a solution to the problem, by creating a component that can be installed into devices. Specifically, the patent deals with accurately detecting particulates in the air. As self-mixing interferometers, systems used to detect the presence of objects by reflecting laser light, can be affected by wind speed, sometimes the component can incorporate a fan to create a fixed wind speed and direction, minimizing the chance of errors in particulate estimations. In some cases, the fan isn't employed, with the self-mixing interferometers used to determine wind speed itself. In Apple's solution to monitoring the air, it proposes the use of three laser light sources, and three total-internal-reflection lenses, as well as relevant light sensors or photodiodes to receive light signals. Light emitted by the lasers are fed through the lenses and reflected towards a receiving sensor, with light refracted towards the sensor itself. Apple suggests the stack could consist of sensor circuity on a base level, overlaid by the emitter and detector, followed by lenses on the top. This would mean that the light sensors and light sources would be in the same location, so the light would be bounced back to the point of origin. Doing this would save Apple from needing to determine a destination point for the light and placing the detecting sensors far away from the emitter, saving space in the design. Apple also suggests the use of , which it uses in hardware such as the iPhone's TrueDepth camera array. The system then uses the change in optical power emitted by each light source received by each sensor to determine particulates have crossed in front of the laser. By detecting backscatter and reflections of the light beams, this can be used to determine the volume of particulates in the air. By using three sets of lasers in different positions, the arrangement is capable of detecting wind speeds and particulate counts in three-dimensional space, allowing for an accurate directional reading. The system would emit three light beams in different directions, adjusting the beam positions over time, and detect changes in sensed reflected light in multiple convergent locations. The system could use this data to determine a flow speed and a flow direction based on the volume changes, which would help improve its count of particulates measured over a short period of time. The volume of particulates is then estimated based on the readings and wind speed, as well as concentrations of particulate matter in the gas. The patent lists its inventors as Mehmet Mutlu, James J. Dudley, Mark T. Winkler, and Wenrui Cai. It was originally filed on July 22, 2019. Apple files numerous patent applications on a weekly basis, but while the existence of patent applications indicates areas of interest for Apple's research and development teams, they don't necessarily guarantee that the ideas will appear in a future product or service. This isn't the first time Apple has looked into the issue of gas detection. In January 2019, it suggested the creation of could allow for compact hazardous gas sensors to be included in an iPhone. In August 2019, it suggested the use of a granular metal oxide semiconductor material sensor to detect , and in April 2019, Apple proposed using gas sensors to perform .AppleInsider has affiliate partnerships and may earn commission on products purchased through affiliate links.These partnerships do not influence our editorial content.&nbsp;&nbsp;I’m wondering how successful such a sensor would be against hazardous vapors such as from petroleum distillates, crowd control agents (CS &amp; CN), &amp; various toxins previously used by various extremist groups, such as the Sarin deployed years ago in a a subway station by a cult. While effective PPE isn’t commonplace, sufficient training outside of military personnel &amp; veterans as to when to use an air purifying respirator is even rarer.Using sensors deployed in smartphones as a means of crowdsourcing all kinds of data is very intriguing and has enormous potential. My only concern is that even doing this totally anonymously still consumes resources like battery, cpu, and communication bandwidth on personal platforms. I would absolutely opt-in to these data acquisition models as long as I had control over certain parameters, for example, shutting down the data acquisition in low battery situations.&nbsp;I believe that we really need to get out ahead of crowd sourced data acquisition models in general - before we start deploying specific types of sensors for specific purposes. In other words, figure out the social, privacy, security, participation, and possibly even the cost issues before slipping these services out in piecemeal fashion and kicking the tough issues can down the road for someone else to figure out later on. Having this capability is essential, so do it right the first time.said:I’m wondering how successful such a sensor would be against hazardous vapors such as from petroleum distillates, crowd control agents (CS &amp; CN), &amp; various toxins previously used by various extremist groups, such as the Sarin deployed years ago in a a subway station by a cult. While effective PPE isn’t commonplace, sufficient training outside of military personnel &amp; veterans as to when to use an air purifying respirator is even rarer.The idea is probably to advise you to "Get the f' out of there!" - it could even alert 911.said:said:I’m wondering how successful such a sensor would be against hazardous vapors such as from petroleum distillates, crowd control agents (CS &amp; CN), &amp; various toxins previously used by various extremist groups, such as the Sarin deployed years ago in a a subway station by a cult. While effective PPE isn’t commonplace, sufficient training outside of military personnel &amp; veterans as to when to use an air purifying respirator is even rarer.The idea is probably to advise you to "Get the f' out of there!" - it could even alert 911.Given how fast some vapors and aerosols kill, getting out of the area without PPE may not be feasible, especially if you have small children, as I do. There's a reason why my children both have PPE from Shallop Chemical Industries, and my wife and I both have PPE from MiraSafety.After they pass the focus point the lasers would fan out in a known way for distance, much like the laser grid used for FaceID now. Could Apple be making an alternative FaceID sensor that is more compact in footprint but width greater depth in the device that just happens to read air particles?&nbsp;Please enable JavaScript to view commentsApple on Tuesday suffered a sweeping services outage, with major platforms like the App Store, Apple Music, Apple Arcade, iCloud and others rendered inaccessible.Apple and Epic have agreed that the coming court battle should be decided in a bench trial by a judge, not a jury.Twitter on Tuesday announced an expansion to its new voice tweets feature on iOS, which allows users to send a short audio clip with each post.Apple is in the process of removing RSS reader apps from the Chinese App Store to comply with government regulations designed to block "illegal content."Apple CEO Tim Cook and his core leadership team this week received restricted stock unit awards designed to incentivize continued work at the company into 2025.Code strings uncovered in the latest iOS 14.2 beta release suggest Apple does not intend to include a free set of EarPods with new "iPhone 12" purchases.In the second beta of iOS 14.2, Apple has introduced a plethora of new emoji including bubble tea, strawberry, flip flop, and more. Here are all the new emoji, as well as all the other changes in this second developer beta.Medical technology company Masimo is accusing Apple of delaying their patent legal fight in order to sell more Apple Watch models.

&nbsp;By19 hours ago&nbsp;&nbsp;A future Apple Watch or iPhone may warn users about poisonous gas or pollen in the local environment, with Apple coming up with ways to reliably sense the air using a combination of lasers and other sensors. While not something people think about all the time, the air is an important element of life, but it is also potentially hazardous. Invisible issues could be in the air, such as pollen or poisonous gas, with it and other potential irritants able to cause harm to a person if inhaled in sufficient quantities. Though items such as carbon monoxide detectors...

Future iPhones could use laser detection of poisonous gas, air quality, or pollen | AppleInsider

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