Apple is pulling inspiration from James Bond in designing a hidden camera in an upcoming Apple Watch.
The tech giant received a patent for a camera attached to the band, allowing the wearable to rotate or detach to snap a photo and make video calls.
The system would feature a unique band connecting the Apple Watch with a magnet or latch, allowing it to be easily removed and reattached.
Apple’s potential design does mimic the watch worn by Bond in the 1983 film Octopussy, but patent ideas do not always turn into real-world technologies.
Apple has secured a patent for a camera system in its Apple Watch. The images show the Watch detaching from the band to let users snap photos
Apple’s idea could bring James Bond to life. The notorious womanizer and masculine icon is known for using technology that the world has only dreamed about.
In the 1983 film, Octopussy, the spy has a Seiko G757 5020 Sports 100 fitted with a camera that lets him video chat with Margaret Thatcher and check-in on the Bond girls.
And Apple’s technology would let users snap photos and also take video calls – but it would not allow you to spy on the Bond girls.
The patent, first spotted by Patently Apple, was filed by Apple in March 2019, but was awarded on February 7, 2023.
The document states that the design could include ‘a watch band having a first strap segment, a second strap segment, a nest portion n secured between the first strap segment and the second strap segment, and an opening extending through the nest portion.’
The camera would sit on the back of the wearable.
Apple explains the design features an attachment mechanism that permits quick or ergonomic release of the watch housing or main case body from a user’s wrist.
This key element lets users rotate the device upwards or remove it from the strap without removing the Apple Watch from the wrist.
Apple has long been rumored to add a camera to its Watch.
In 2019, the company received a patent describing placing a camera module inside the tail end of the wristband that would be flexible enough to point in a desired direction.
Once the module is positioned and a user is ready to take a picture, one could either ‘pinch’ a section of the wristband, give a verbal command — presumably powered through iOS voice assistant, Siri — or press a button fixed to the watch’s side according to the patent.
To help maintain its shape, Apple is also mulling outfitting its wristband with a poseable ‘core’ filled with metal, fluid, or other mechanical features.
As is the case with all patents, Apple’s plans for its watch are still just an idea, but according to the filing date of the wristband-mounted camera — it was filed originally in 2016 — the company has had time to chew it over.
The company was believed to include a camera in its 2016 Apple Watch – a speculation made by 9to5Mac.
In the 1983 film, Octopussy, James Bond (played by Sir Roger Moore) has a Seiko G757 5020 Sports 100 fitted with a camera that lets him video chat with Margaret Thatcher and check-in on the Bond girls.
The patent also describes a method of rotating the Apple Watch device
‘According to multiple sources familiar with Apple’s plans, the Apple Watch 2 is planned to gain a video camera, a new wireless system for greater iPhone independence, and new premium-priced models,’ said 9to5mac.
The new wireless system would allow owners to do more without their iPhone, for instance, exercising.
While Apple still irons out details to add a camera, the tech giant has packed its device with lifesaving capabilities.
The device’s electrocardiogram feature and other health indicators can act as a basic stress detector.
A study released in December 2022 shows the device is useful for indicating stress due to a range of health markers that it’s intended to detect.
Apple recently claimed the Watch could tell when a person is having a nightmare based on various sensors and how they’re moving in their sleep – gently nudging them out of the experience but not waking them up.
‘The link between stress and multiple biomarkers has revealed opportunities to develop technologies to quantify stress,’ the study, published in Frontiers in Digital Health, states.
‘One such feature is heart rate variability (HRV) which is now routinely quantified through an electrocardiograph (ECG).’
ECGs are typically performed at healthcare facilities, which limits their accessibility. The ECG feature has been included in the device since Apple Watch Series 4.
Researchers note that developing self-monitoring devices would provide crucial information for public health workers and allow for real-time interventions that could save lives.
