Apple Executive Hints at Using AirPods to Provide Users More Health Data

In a wide-ranging interview about Apple's work and progress in the field of health, the company's vice president of technology, Kevin Lynch, has hinted that Apple may someday use sensor fusion with AirPods to provide more health data to customers.

Currently, the iPhone and Apple Watch both utilize a wide array of sensors to provide users with health data and information independently. In addition, Apple also uses sensor fusion, which combines data from sensors onboard the Apple Watch and ‌iPhone‌ to provide users with a more comprehensive view of their health. In an interview with TechCrunch, Lynch has hinted that Apple may add ‌AirPods‌ to the process of sensor fusion to provide more health data to Apple users.

Perhaps one place to look for even more potential in terms of future health capabilities lies in sensor fusion, however. Walking steadiness is the result of not just the ‌iPhone‌ or the Apple Watch acting independently, but of what’s possible when the company can use them in combination. It’s another place where Apple’s tight integration of software and hardware give it an edge, and it multiplies as Apple’s ecosystem of devices, and the sensors they carry, continues to grow.

I ended our interview by asking Lynch about what kind of possibilities might open up when you consider that ‌AirPods‌, too, contain their own sensors and gather different data that could complement that monitored by the ‌iPhone‌ and Apple Watch in terms of health.

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