3 ms·

Not so sure about this. There's going to be a ton of noise in this data from an outsider POV. At an absolute minimum, for this to be usable as weather data they

Not so sure about this. There's going to be a ton of noise in this data from an outsider POV. At an absolute minimum, for this to be usable as weather data they will have to determine when it's measuring the actual outside weather, as opposed to the indoor, or in-car/-bus/-train temperature.

gnicholas 4y ago
Good point! During times when AC or heat is running a lot, there might be a bimodal distribution of reported temperatures. I wonder if they could use the ambient light sensor to determine if the person is inside or outside, or if they could use location data to figure out that 'this Apple Watch is in the middle of a large field, so he must be outside'. Then they could just ignore other data in that microclimate area, and create a weather mapping based on watches located in known open areas.
- MisterTea 4y ago
  > I wonder if they could use the ambient light sensor to determine if the person is inside or outside Maybe they are they next to a window or under a sky light. > or if they could use location data to figure out that 'this Apple Watch is in the middle of a large field, so he must be outside'. Could be in a tent or other temporary structure.
  - gnicholas 4y ago
    Yep, there will always be exceptions. But taking the median of a decently-filtered set could work. And Apple obviously has a team of folks working on this to come up with something smarter than some random HNer (me) who's just shooting from the hip).
    - techbio 4y ago
      You said a thousand words worth with "bimodal".
    - MisterTea 4y ago
      > And Apple obviously has a team of folks working on this to come up with something smarter than some random HNer (me) who's just shooting from the hip). Don't talk like that, its a self defeating mindset. You are likely as competent as most Apple engineers (the 10x benefit from less inhibitions and tons of energy. The people working at apple are like most of us here, curious and driven. Apple has a lot of money to throw at people who bring in experience whereas you and I are individuals who do not work in the field of "figuring out where things are using computers." So we obviously are not experts in the field and not familiar with existing and emerging solutions for the problem.
com2kid 4y ago
> At an absolute minimum, for this to be usable as weather data they will have to determine when it's measuring the actual outside weather, Does Apple Watch have a light sensor for an auto dimming display? If so, that can be used as a proxy for indoor/outdoor. It isn't great, shade and such. Throw barometer in there, and you can do a decent job. Microsoft Band had a UV sensor, so we were able to get pretty accurate detection of indoor/outdoor when combined with all the other sensors, at least during the day. I'm sad UV sensors didn't take off on smart watches in general, it is a super useful sensor to have, but they are rather large and even the lens material to go over them is different than what is otherwise required for a wearable.
- labcomputer 4y ago
  I don't see this working effectively. A UV sensor is great during daytime, but what about at night? Then, you still have to account for the fact that your thermometer is located right next to a variable ~100W heater, vs. normal weather stations that are normally located away from heat sources. Also, the thermometer and heater are occasionally placed inside a tight-fitting insulated container.

gnicholas 4y ago

Good point! During times when AC or heat is running a lot, there might be a bimodal distribution of reported temperatures. I wonder if they could use the ambient light sensor to determine if the person is inside or outside, or if they could use location data to figure out that 'this Apple Watch is in the middle of a large field, so he must be outside'. Then they could just ignore other data in that microclimate area, and create a weather mapping based on watches located in known open areas.

MisterTea 4y ago
> I wonder if they could use the ambient light sensor to determine if the person is inside or outside Maybe they are they next to a window or under a sky light. > or if they could use location data to figure out that 'this Apple Watch is in the middle of a large field, so he must be outside'. Could be in a tent or other temporary structure.
- gnicholas 4y ago
  Yep, there will always be exceptions. But taking the median of a decently-filtered set could work. And Apple obviously has a team of folks working on this to come up with something smarter than some random HNer (me) who's just shooting from the hip).
  - techbio 4y ago
    You said a thousand words worth with "bimodal".
  - MisterTea 4y ago
    > And Apple obviously has a team of folks working on this to come up with something smarter than some random HNer (me) who's just shooting from the hip). Don't talk like that, its a self defeating mindset. You are likely as competent as most Apple engineers (the 10x benefit from less inhibitions and tons of energy. The people working at apple are like most of us here, curious and driven. Apple has a lot of money to throw at people who bring in experience whereas you and I are individuals who do not work in the field of "figuring out where things are using computers." So we obviously are not experts in the field and not familiar with existing and emerging solutions for the problem.

com2kid 4y ago

> At an absolute minimum, for this to be usable as weather data they will have to determine when it's measuring the actual outside weather, Does Apple Watch have a light sensor for an auto dimming display? If so, that can be used as a proxy for indoor/outdoor. It isn't great, shade and such. Throw barometer in there, and you can do a decent job. Microsoft Band had a UV sensor, so we were able to get pretty accurate detection of indoor/outdoor when combined with all the other sensors, at least during the day. I'm sad UV sensors didn't take off on smart watches in general, it is a super useful sensor to have, but they are rather large and even the lens material to go over them is different than what is otherwise required for a wearable.

labcomputer 4y ago
I don't see this working effectively. A UV sensor is great during daytime, but what about at night? Then, you still have to account for the fact that your thermometer is located right next to a variable ~100W heater, vs. normal weather stations that are normally located away from heat sources. Also, the thermometer and heater are occasionally placed inside a tight-fitting insulated container.