A study recently published by Cleveland Clinic in the journal JAMA Cardiology can give some owners peace of mind Apple Watch concerned with monitoring their heart rates for health reasons. According to the survey, Apple’s watch is the most accurate pulse device for measuring heart rate – beating renowned rivals such as the Fitbit bracelet.

The study gathered 50 healthy adults at 3 activity levels (rested, walking and trotting on a treadmill) and compared the results of an electrocardiogram (the most accurate method for measuring heart rate) with those offered by Apple Watch, Fitbit Charge HR, Mio Alpha and Basis Peak, as well as those of a chest monitor.
The chest monitor, as expected, won the test easily, showing 99% accurate results when compared to the electrocardiogram. Among the wrist devices, however, the Apple Watch emerged as the winner: its accuracy rate was 90%, while the other competitors saw an average closer to 80%, according to the study.
The researchers found that all devices showed a greater variation in measurements when subjected to intense activity, such as running – which is understandable, since movement can compromise contact with the skin, which is essential to measure heart rate. Even so, even at the busiest times, the Apple watch was the one that best held the bar between the wrist devices and presented the most consistent measurements. Point to the Apple!
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Still on the subject of Apple Watch, patents published today may give us clues about the future of the smartwatch. The first of them has to do with the heart rate meter itself: apparently, Apple has an idea of how to make this component also act as an identifier – something like a Touch ID that reads your vascular channels.
The patent published in the US Patent and Trademark Office (United States Patent and Trademark Office) describes a system in which the light emitted by the photosensors is reflected back to the device and, from then on, the information received is compared with other saved previously to identify the vascular map of the user’s arm.
The record also describes possible movements by the user that the system would use as “triggers” to activate vascular identification, such as the action of raising the watch to eye height. This would be interesting for times like using Apple Pay on your watch, further increasing your security. Only one name is missing now; how about “Blood ID”? ?
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Well, the fact is that the other patent published today also has to do with the movement of the arms of Apple Watch users. The company describes a system that would command functions on the watch – or even on the iPhone to which it is connected – through wrist or hand movements.

In other words, the Apple Watch would incorporate sensors that would detect small movements made with the wrist / hands through the contraction or relaxation of the muscles in the area. Some of the examples offered are the famous telephone signal, with the thumb and the little finger extended, that could make or answer a call, or the hands closed and turning to control, say, the volume of a song.
It would be very interesting – and futuristic – wouldn’t it?
[via9to5Mac;[via9to5Mac;AppleInsider: 1, 2]