It used to be that a watch was used to tell time. Sure, there were the occasional chronographic trimmings, but mostly, it was supposed to inform the user of the hour, the date. Then, companies added more bells and whistles to the wrist implement. They made it able to count your steps; help you navigate; track your heartbeat... the list goes on. And now the watch has grown beyond the initial scope of a timepiece.
These days, we refer to it as a smartwatch and it’s changing the way we monitor our health. Because it’s unobtrusive and in contact with our skin for most of our day, it can collate a host of information about our bodies that we have no idea that it’s giving out. For example, when a feature was able to track one’s heart rate, I didn’t quite understand how it worked. Does the smartwatch pick up the slight throbs from the wrist? It was a year later that I found out that it measures heart rate using the flashing green LED light emitted on the rear of the smartwatch. It’s called photoplethysmography and it gets a reading of the heart rate by how much green light is absorbed by the red blood cells as the blood vessels expand and contract. Expanded blood vessels takes in more green light; contracted blood vessels absorb less. #nowyouknow.
Another feature that seems almost like magic (props to Arthur C Clarke) is sleep tracking. Usually, in a sleep study, you’re hooked up to a polysomnograph via electrodes to record your EEG (electroencephalogram), ECG (electrocardiogram), EOG (electrooculography) and EMG (electromyography) readings. A smartwatch doesn’t have electrodes so, instead, it relies on the watch’s accelerometers to measure how many movements you make during sleep.
These are the big two features that all smartwatch users are familiar with but they are just the tip of the iceberg, especially when it comes to the Apple Watch, which has a slew more attributes that the majority tend to overlook. While records of your heart rate and your sleep patterns are fine, the more information that the Apple Watch collates (balance; oxygen in the blood; mental state), the clearer the picture of your state of health that comes to the fore.
We discovered more things that the Apple Watch Series 8 and Series 9 can do at the recent Apple Health Summit.
Any data that the Apple Watch collects is not shared with Apple or any third party, that was stressed no less than three times during our session with Apple. Tim Cook was adamant about Apple’s stance on privacy, which it believes is a “fundamental human right”. But if you want to, you can share your crucial health data with your family members or caregivers who are also Apple users. Info like high heart rate alerts, irregular rhythm notifications will keep your inner circle in the know so that they can check in on you.
When it comes to longevity in health, mobility ranks high on the list. Think about it: when you start to feel painand strain from even the most basic task like walking, your quality of life dips. In fact, the act of walking can be a key indicator of any injury, it is also the representation of one’s ability to age with independence. The Mobility Metrics measures your walking performance—the speed; step length; asymmetry—from the results you can ascertain where you place mobility-wise.
While the accelerator on the smartwatch alone is enough to measure your strides, the Mobility Metrics work better when you also have your Apple iPhone holstered at your waist. With a secondary accelerometer, you’ll get a more accurate reading of your walking state.
When our smartphones become more ubiquitous, it’s inevitable that the majority of our lives will be spent in front of screens. Excessive screen time strains the eyes and leaves them dry. Worst-case scenario: you’ll get retina damage and blurred vision. Myopia is another leading cause of vision impairment, especially for children since the risk of myopia rises when they don’t spend time outdoors and the distance between their peepers and screen are not at a respectable distance away from each other.
Here’s where Apple safeguards your vision health. You can view the amount of time spent in daylight thanks to your Apple Watch, which measures time spent in daylight using an ambient light sensor. Going out to bathe in the sun rays is encouraged as it boosts immunity; hones your circadian rhythm so that you can sleep better; fights off depression, among a host of benefits.
You can also program your iPhone to switch on the Screen Distance feature. It uses the TrueDepth camera and alerts you if it senses that your face is too close.
Your physical appearance may be up to par but what’s on the inside counts, especially, inside your head. We’re not talking about therapy; that requires finesse... hell, even a human touch. No, when it comes to your mental well-being, the Apple Watch is forcing you to slow down.
Now this was the hardest feature to adopt. Having lived out most of my adult life in the rat race, I’m encouraged to stop and smell the roses. The Mindfulness app in watchOS 10 engages you to catalogue how you feel at the moment. It sounds like blogging but the Mindfulness nudges you into identifying what led you to your current state. With these insights, you can better manage your overall mental health, which is much needed in today’s fast-paced world.
