Apple could go beyond Touch ID and Face ID and offer a new full body recognition system, something like Body ID. The company has published a patent called “Electronic devices with body composition analysis circuits” which details how an external device or even an iPhone, it could even scan specific body parts to, among other things, provide health data and analysis or identify the user.
Apple details in the patent that to perform body scans “data can be captured scanning the body from head to toe”, or, “by capturing the whole body in one image frame, and/or by capturing multiple image frames of different parts of the body, such as the face, neck, waist, legs, etc. .”, describes the patent.
The body scan can also be done from the front or from the side. The company also says that it is possible to capture sequences of images or videos to show, for example, breathing.
Although the fact that with a single analysis of the whole body we can have results related to health, it can be an important advance, Apple mentions that the Scanning of specific body parts is necessary to detect different body compositions.
“Because body fat tends to be stored in certain pockets of fat, such as the cheek and neck regions, those regions may be more indicative of body composition than other regions. For example, the shape of a user’s forehead may show little variation as a user’s body fat changes, while parts of the cheeks and neck may show detectable changes that directly correlate with changes in body composition. ”.
Apple continues to focus on health
This scanning of the body, we reiterate, would allow throw data related to the health of the user, such as body mass, weight, etc., and allow Apple to offer a more tailored diet or exercise to each person. The company also highlights that this function would allow the collection of data from multiple users for analysis and subsequent studies.
We must not forget, of course, that it is a patent, so it is not clear if we will see this feature in future devices. In any case, Apple has spent years very focused on working on functions related to the health of users. The Cupertino firm even wanted to create its own clinics that used the health data from the iPhone or Apple Watch, although the company decided to pause the project.