In a groundbreaking patent application published by the US Patent & Trademark Office, Apple has unveiled plans for a next-generation…

Apple has patented a new AirPods sensor system that integrates active and reference electrodes into the housing and tips to measure brain activity and other biosignals[1]. The system can monitor electroencephalography (EEG), electromyography (EMG), and electrooculography (EOG) through electrodes placed around the outer ear[2].

The technology uses dynamic electrode selection, intelligently choosing specific electrodes based on user parameters and wearing conditions to optimize accuracy[2:1]. Users could potentially activate measurements through simple gestures like tapping the AirPods tip[2:2].

However, experts note significant challenges - current in-ear EEG systems require patient-specific 3D ear scans and careful cleaning procedures that may not align with Apple’s consumer product approach[3].

  1. LinkedIn - Apple’s AirPods Revolution: New Patent for Measuring Biosignals and Reading Minds ↩︎

  2. Medium - Apple’s Next-Gen AirPods with Brainwave Monitoring ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎

  3. Manifold Markets - Will Apple Airpods have EEG based BCI control features by 2026? ↩︎

  • CompactFlax@discuss.tchncs.deEnglish
    12·
    2 days ago

    Not to defend Apple’s other problems, but they do market the concept that they are one of the very few tech companies that don’t sell data.

    For now.

    • minorkeys@lemmy.world
      9·
      2 days ago

      They don’t sell because they know the value of it and want to use it themselves. Why would they empower their rivals by sharing their data?

      • CompactFlax@discuss.tchncs.deEnglish
        5·
        2 days ago

        In comparison to tech rivals, they actively don’t collect a lot of the data they could be gathering and its been argued it’s one reason Siri is so ineffably stupid in comparison to eg google.

    • Doomsider@lemmy.world
      4·
      2 days ago

      That is not really what I get when I read their terms.

      "Apple’s advertising platform receives information about the ads you tap and view against a random identifier not tied to your Apple Account.

Apple does not share any personal data with third parties. We make certain non-personal data available to our advertisers and strategic partners that work with Apple to provide our products and services, help Apple market to customers, and sell ads on Apple’s behalf. No Apple Pay transactions or Health app data is accessible to Apple’s advertising platform, or is used for advertising purposes. Apple does not know or make available to advertisers information about your sexual orientation, religious beliefs, or political affiliations"

      So they definitely use your “anonymized” data to help advertisers reach you on their platform. Also the part about Apple does not know or make available is some seriously weird lingo. They do know for sure, but they don’t make it available supposedly, but I highly doubt that.

      So they are not really about you privacy per se because they are into ad revenue for themselves, but they are claiming to not actively sell your data to third parties (except the government of course).

      I wonder how anonymous this data really is as researches have been able to pierce the veil and use this type of data to create an entire profile about you.