Apple has published three new patents indicating the company is working on new functionality for its Bluetooth-connected Airpods - giving the in-ear headphones biometric tracking and, possibly, noise cancellation.
Refering to “Earbuds with Biometric Sensing", Patently Apple explains the system is built around a photoplethysmogram (PPG) sensor able to detect blood-flow by shining a light onto an area of skin near the ear's tragus.
By tracking blood-flow, the PPG sensor can offer information on the wearer's heart-rate, VO2 (the maximum rate of oxygen consumption) and temperature.
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As well as biometric measuring, the earbuds could also provide noise-cancellation to eliminate audio within a 10-20 degree window - so wearers would still be able to hear nearby conversations - or cancel outside sound altogether.
Of course, Apple isn't the first company to experiment with health-tracking headphones. In 2014 SMS Audio and Intel collaborated to produce the BioSport, which used built-in biometric sensors to measure heart-rate and collect fitness data.
More recently, Bose's SoundSport Pulse - our best in-ear wireless headphones - give a live read-out of the wearer's current heart-rate, with the information being sent to popular third-party apps including Strava, Endomondo and MapMyRun.
