In brief: Sharks and the Apple Watch are quite popular among swimmers for their own reasons, and if Cupertino has its way, a future model of the smartwatch could arrive with sensors to detect sharks and monitor users' health in underwater environments.
A patent filed by Apple in 2016 and published recently by the USPTO reveals that the Apple Watch could soon get more health-related capabilities, in addition to the ECG and fall detection feature added in recent models.
Series 6 of the popular wearable is already expected to bring improved water resistance and could also feature a host of new sensors for monitoring swimmers' perspiration and sweat pH levels, as described in the patent.
Interestingly, it also notes that Apple Watch's "sensor engine" will be able to trigger notifications based around the user's environment to warn them of rip tides or when dangerous predators "such as sharks" are in the area.
Apple's patent also suggests that the watch will include sensors in the wrist band, in addition to the main body, while its housing will consist of a small opening leading to a cavity for holding water. The amount of liquid will then be used in conjunction with data from other sensors to determine the type of water body (pool, lake, ocean, etc.) the user is in.
The sensors, distributed over three layers - Primary, Secondary, and Tertiary - will also be able to detect chemicals and pathogens in the water, based on its type, and notify the user "of any pertinent information" once the data has been processed by the gadget's water sensing system.
Unlike the iPhone, which some might say has peaked in terms of innovation, Apple seems to find plenty of room for improvement with the Apple Watch and is steadily advancing the wearable with each generation to make it more useful in daily life. The only apparent downside to this, as with other Apple products, will be the ever-increasing price of admission.
https://www.techspot.com/news/84834-future-apple-watches-might-able-warn-swimmers-nearby.html
