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AirPods Pro 4 Could Feature Cameras to 'See Around You'
- daft_pink 9mo agoAre we going to have to take our airpods off when we go in the bathroom now? Seems like a negative tradeoff.
- nothercastle 9mo agoSo you want to get AirPods banned everywhere… genius
- Cthulhu_ 9mo agoI don't believe these facebook rayban / modern google glass things are banned everywhere, why would this one be?
- testfrequency 9mo agoSo in Japan, will the audio play on the outside of the headphone?
- Cthulhu_ 9mo agoWhat? Where did you get that from?
- accrual 9mo agoI suspect it could be due to Japan requiring that cameras play a sound when taking a photo or video. Here's some background: https://japandaily.jp/why-you-cant-turn-off-the-camera-shutter-sound-in-japan/ https://japandaily.jp/why-you-cant-turn-off-the-camera-shutt... > Japan’s requirement for an audible camera shutter sound isn’t just a quirky design decision — it’s a deliberate policy meant to prevent secret photography.
- testfrequency 9mo agoThis
- giarc 9mo agoLooks like it will be an infrared camera, so perhaps that changes the requirement?
- wongarsu 9mo agoDoesn't that just make it worse? It can't see color, but instead it can potentially see through thin clothing
- wahnfrieden 9mo agoThat law regulates captured images. It doesn't require continuous shutter sounds while the phone is processing and even displaying the camera input - only once an image is captured. It seems unlikely that the AirPods will allow users to capture IR images that are used for gestural control and environmental awareness for system functions.
- Someone1234 9mo agoThe law doesn't make a distinction for what the AirPod's internal processing does. Infrared definitely violates people's privacy and dignity.
- wahnfrieden 9mo agoBut that’s unrelated to the shutter sound law
- giarc 9mo agoIs there a shutter sound when someone uses FaceID? That uses infrared to capture the users face.
- accrual 9mo agoIt looks like these cameras are infrared and intended to see gestures from the wearer. There are some more details in the linked article: https://www.macrumors.com/2024/06/30/new-airpods-to-feature-ir-cameras/ https://www.macrumors.com/2024/06/30/new-airpods-to-feature-... > The IR cameras can detect environmental image changes, facilitating a broader range of gestures to improve user interaction. For example, if a user watches a video using Apple Vision Pro and the new AirPods, and turns their head to look in a specific direction, the sound source in that direction can be "emphasized to enhance the spatial audio/computing experience." I wonder if the signal could be integrated into AR glasses or headset to provide a wider FOV to the wearer.
- ASalazarMX 9mo ago> For example, if a user watches a video using Apple Vision Pro and the new AirPods, and turns their head to look in a specific direction, the sound source in that direction can be "emphasized to enhance the spatial audio/computing experience. Geez, if only the Apple Vision had some kind of gyroscope and accelerometer so it could detect head motion without relying on external hardware...
- comboy 9mo agoI'm assuming it's more about building 3d map of surroundings and modeling reverb based on that.
- nozzlegear 9mo ago> It looks like these cameras are infrared and intended to see gestures from the wearer. I had an APV for a while, controlling it with just gestures was sweet. If they're looking to bring those kinds of gestures to other Apple devices via AirPods (i.e. beyond just bringing more gestures to the AirPods), I'm intrigued.
- SunshineTheCat 9mo agoI just want a feature that helps me find the one that runs away after I fall asleep with them in >:(
- 1123581321 9mo agoFor me, they fell off during sleep less often after I did the tip size testing. (I don't really want to be wearing them while asleep, but my body sometimes has other plans.)
- dangus 9mo agoPut a damn tracker in the case. I hate how the case is completely dumb if the AirPods are outside of it.
- colechristensen 9mo agoThey did. Airpods Pro 2 has a tracker in the case, Find My can find all three pieces separately and each can make the pinging noise.
- daft_pink 9mo agoThe AirPods Pro 2, AirPods Pro 3, and AirPods 4 WITH ANC all have cases with speakers and separate Find My integration that I belive is what you are looking for. It’s the only reason why I have upgraded to ANC on the Airpods 4, because I don’t really like ANC, but I want the smart case.
- dangus 9mo agoDamn, I literally have the Pro 3 and didn’t think they did that. Shows what I know!
- jpalomaki 9mo agoThe pros have Find My -support and you can even ping the earbuds separately via the app. Also the new model can regonize when you fall a sleep and stop the media. I think it works, but I'm not sure how quickly it detects the sleep.
- alsetmusic 9mo ago[flagged]
- sixothree 9mo agoWhy do you think they don't want to add gesture controls?
- alsetmusic 9mo agoGesture controls were introduced with a previous version of the Pros (I think 2). I've been "scrolling" up to raise the volume for about three years, maybe 2.5.
- sebastiennight 9mo agoWould you be kind enough to explain your gut reaction here with logical arguments as to why this is definitely not a feature that would ever be released?
- alsetmusic 9mo agoYes! It's not a marketable feature for the cost!
- sebastiennight 9mo agoThanks. That does make sense.
- HumblyTossed 9mo agoIs it possible for tech to "jump the shark"?
- jeffbee 9mo agoThere was an old video about the new app for your BlackBerry that would show you what's on the other side of your BlackBerry. At the time we believed this to be a joke, rather than a product development brief.
- mrbigbob 9mo agoreminds me when google introduced radar for their pixel phones called project soli. https://research.google/blog/soli-radar-based-perception-and-interaction-in-pixel-4/ https://research.google/blog/soli-radar-based-perception-and.... i have a feeling that these will be as successful. its a solution in search of a problem in my eye
- jpalomaki 9mo agoWould be quite handy for gesture control. When wearing thick gloves you need to take them off to operate the current AirPods.
- yesfitz 9mo agoThis was a solved problem in the 1st and 2nd generation of AirPods with tap controls[1]. I'm still surprised that they removed that feature in favor of pressure, although now that I'm reflecting more on it, I wonder if it's part of Apple using their manufacturing and engineering as a moat[2]. i.e. Tap controls are relatively easy, so once wireless earbuds became commodities, they had to figure out some way to differentiate themselves. That said, as someone who does pottery (messy hands), wears gloves/hats (stuff in the way), and has relatively poor fine motor control, I guess I welcome any solution that doesn't mean getting clay or cold air in my hair/ear. The battery consumption and latency of the IR cameras will be interesting though. Too sensitive, and you'll eat up your battery. Not sensitive enough, and UX suffers. 1: https://support.apple.com/en-us/102628 https://support.apple.com/en-us/102628 2: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45186975 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45186975
- Someone1234 9mo agoI still own a Google device with that tech on it (Home Display), and, yeah it isn't useful. They just hide certain UI elements until your hand gets close, which is obnoxious and feels like they invented something then invented a usage for it to justify it. UI should be consistent, it allows users to learn a muscle memory, this "hide stuff until you're 20cm away" stuff is the antithesis of that (and all good design in general).
- deleted 9mo ago[deleted]
- serf 9mo agoRemember the fuss people made about the Google Glass? Turns out that people become okay with cameras every few inches observing every action as long as you say "It's for gestures.", even though the data stream will inevitably make it back to corpo for training ( and voyeurism[0] by the other parties that'll be in the room). Same excuse for the VR headsets. "Oh, it has a red LED that fires when recording!" , meanwhile the thing has 30 other IR cams in non-stop loops consuming the environment at power-on til death. [0]: https://www.reuters.com/article/world/uk/nsa-staff-used-spy-tools-on-spouses-ex-lovers-watchdog-idUSBRE98Q14H/ https://www.reuters.com/article/world/uk/nsa-staff-used-spy-...
- ravenstine 9mo agoIt reminds me of that principle of how people are more likely to be receptive to your request if you preface it with "because..."
- changoplatanero 9mo agoMy experience working at Apple was that private information does not leave the device. All our training data came from contractors who were hired to perform data collection and not from the general public.
- BiteCode_dev 9mo agoYou are one PRISM type request and one gag order from a silent update changinf that. In fact, it could have been the case already and you would not have known ir.
- gruez 9mo ago>You are one PRISM type request and one gag order from a silent update changinf that. Wouldn't the bigger issue be that they can abuse the same thing to grab camera and or microphone from your phone? Probably more useful than airpods too, given that a phone's always on, unlike airpods.
- ASalazarMX 9mo ago
- noupdates 9mo agoI suspect most devices will have cameras and mics on them and will mesh connect as a collective system. OpenAI is most likely working on a suite of devices that would fit this "regalia" of sorts.
- KaiserPro 9mo agoDepending on where the cameras are placed, they can be used to work out the pose (ie what position) the upper body is in. Meta showed that it was possible to do that from cameras mounted on glasses. However, the power required to do that is quite high (30-60mw to detect, more to do the pose extractions) So I suspect its just hand recognition.
- bobbylarrybobby 9mo agoAre accelerometers not sufficient for pose determination? I would assume they'd work as well as cameras if not better.
- KaiserPro 9mo agofor your head, more than enough, for the position of the arm you need something else.
- Someone1234 9mo agoPeople commonly continue to wear their AirPods in the changing rooms, because why not? Keep the tunes/podcast/etc going while you get ready/even shower. If they add cameras to them, regardless of the implementation, I'm pretty sure that not only is against every gym-policy, but may be an actual criminal offense in certain states. So I guess what I am saying is: This could be an anti-feature for certain people, or get people into trouble who continue to do a preexisting habit.
- Timpanzee 9mo agoIR cameras, not visible light cameras, so this should be a non-issue.
- Someone1234 9mo agoHave you never used an IR camera? IR can see more than visible light cameras, including through layers of people's clothing and can certainly see a detailed image of a naked human. So more of an issue in that case; and the laws I am talking about don't have a "IR Camera" exception.
- gruez 9mo ago>If they add cameras to them, regardless of the implementation, I'm pretty sure that not only is against every gym-policy, but may be an actual criminal offense in certain states. Is having the camera on illegal in and of itself, or only when you're actively recording?
- Someone1234 9mo agoIf the purpose of these is gestures, won't they always be "actively recording?"
- gruez 9mo agoIf you open the camera app but don't hit record, it's still "recording" in the sense that the image sensor is receiving light and sending over data, but it's not "recording" in what most people interpret the word to mean.
- crazygringo 9mo agoI wonder what this would do to battery life -- continuously-on IR cameras are going to be a significant power draw. And then there's the question of whether the video processing is done on the earbuds, or how much Bluetooth bandwidth is used sending the video stream to your phone for processing. Using this to detect gestures does seem very cool, however. Seems like a fascinating engineering challenge.
- coldtea 9mo ago>Using this to detect gestures does seem very cool, however. Don't know, sounds totally useless, like most on-air gesture interfaces.
- crazygringo 9mo agoIt would be incredibly useful for scrubbing through commercials during podcasts, if you could just pinch your fingers and drag through the air. Infinitely better than double-pinching the stem 15 times in a row. Finer volume control. Different gestures for fast forward vs next track. Additional gestures e.g. for liking the current track. Doesn't sound useless to me at all.
- adolph 9mo agoIt is interesting to see camera-in-airpods as a rumor instead of wireless-radio-as-camera [0] to detect similar. Maybe it is less power/volume intensive to add very limited cameras instead of upping the processing power to run inference on the radio signals? I suppose that the "camera" could be as simple as an optical flow sensor [1] commonly used on mice and quad-copters and placed behind the black plastic so there would not be a visible lens [2]. 0. https://web.ece.ucsb.edu/~ymostofi/WiFiReadingThroughWall https://web.ece.ucsb.edu/~ymostofi/WiFiReadingThroughWall 1. https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/10164626 https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/10164626 2. https://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2012/07/camera-transpar.html https://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2012/07/camera-transp...
- coldtea 9mo agoCan we get a bloody better sound driver, protection from ANC feedback shriek, one or two physical buttons (or at least a raised haptic buttons, not just a touch sensitive stem area), and battery level on the case? We don't want no fucking infra cameras for "better hand gestures and enhanced spatial audio experience".
- rbbydotdev 9mo agoHow does this work out for 'observers' who are getting their windows broken, ripped out of cars?
- xcavier 9mo agoCan't we get proper noise cancellation first before they worry about gesture control…