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The Apple Watch does not play nicely with some tattoos
- dang 11y agoUrl changed from http://www.dailydot.com/technology/apple-watch-tattoo-issues/?fb=dd http://www.dailydot.com/technology/apple-watch-tattoo-issues..., which points to this.
- kazinator 11y agoThat dainty watch doesn't even esthetically play along with that hairy, ink-covered arm. Particularly when it's displaying that cute little heart. Headline: "Biker ganger robs Japanese tourist" ... A good all-round fix may be for the watch to detect this situation and display a Hello Kitty skull.
- deleted 11y ago[deleted]
- jgalt212 11y agoThis will spawn 1,001 hipster existential crises. Am I more committed to my "individuality" through my commitment to body art or my usage of Apple products?
- deleted 11y ago[deleted]
- thebouv 11y agoNailed it. I expect to see that headline soon.
- dijit 11y agoside question, why is everything "*gate" nowadays? surely it's not a throwback to watergate? I mean, that's 43 years ago nearly.
- Drakim 11y agoCheck this out: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_scandals_with_%22-gate%22_suffix http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_scandals_with_%22-gate%...
- dijit 11y agoawesome, so it is people being a bit silly. can we try to retain the word "scandal" in the dictionary- gate already has a use. "/
- classicsnoot 11y agohttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vB9JgxhXW5w https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vB9JgxhXW5w
- k-mcgrady 11y agoI never realised that was the origin - just checked and apparently it is.
- malka 11y agoYou mean the Watergategate ?
- LanceH 11y agoThe funniest observation I heard along these lines is that "-gate" gets used in Italy, and how is it possible they don't have something of their own to choose from?
- sakri 11y agoSorry hipster, can't have your cake and eat it too
- classicsnoot 11y agoyou and @jgalt212 seem to believe tattoos are an exclusively hipster thing... which implies that you believe that having tattoos is somehow a mark of a shallow, transitory nature or perspective... which naturally leads one to conclude that you two are in some way above it all... ...you hipster fucks
- subverting 11y agoat least they're real hipsters and not the trendy pseudo ones
- k-mcgrady 11y agoSurprised Apple didn't discover this - or maybe they did and just didn't think it was a big issue. Could this be part of the reason behind the try-on appointments, so people with tattoos/scars/hairy arms can make sure all the features work correctly before purchase? Edit: Also, why does the comment section here look like a reddit thread?
- bwilliams18 11y agoTry-On Appointments won't reveal this problem as the watch you get to try on is just running a demo loop.
- k-mcgrady 11y agoInteresting - glad I didn't bother with one then and just preordered. I guess if it has to pair with a phone to function and they'd have to wipe the device after every appointment.
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- slayed0 11y agoAnecdotal at best, but I have noticed a slow decline in % of quality posts per comment thread over the last 3 or 4 months. This problem is also much more apparent when the article is about something that is easy to comment on (non-technical discussion) and one that has large groups of cult fans and detractors that will blindly support or badmouth any newly released information (apple products are probably #1). sorry for the OT. apple sux!1
- untog 11y agoAnecdotal at best, but I have noticed a slow decline in % of quality posts per comment thread over the last 3 or 4 months I've also been reading comments like this since I arrived here four years ago (just looked that up, wow is that depressing). Not that it means they're all wrong, of course, but I suspect this is nothing new. Or maybe I'm the problem.
- josephagoss 11y agoDoes the Apple Watch use the same type of sensor as competing Watch devices?
- classicsnoot 11y agoFWIW http://www.reddit.com/r/apple/comments/344b3o/anyone_with_tattoos_and_the_watch_please_read/ http://www.reddit.com/r/apple/comments/344b3o/anyone_with_ta...
- rsneekes 11y agoDon't know if it's the same sensor, and in the article comments they say hairy wrists shouldn't be a problem, but last year I tried a TomTom Cardio watch for a week which also had problems with my hairy/sweaty wrists during a run. On the product forum I read a lot of similar stories, don't know if it was a faulty batch or if the combination of the technology and my wrist was the problem.
- conphill 11y agoSo I have a basic understanding that blood is red due to the chemical bond between iron and oxygen, and how both elements together reflect light, but out of curiosity, can anyone touch on the significance of green light?
- draven 11y agoThe section "The science behind Apple's sensors" in the article contains some details about that. Quick google search returned this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photoplethysmogram https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photoplethysmogram According to this: http://bsn2014.org/poster/BSN2014-poster09s-maeda.pdf http://bsn2014.org/poster/BSN2014-poster09s-maeda.pdf Green light seems to be used to lessen the impact of motion on the measurements.
- conphill 11y agoAwesome resources. Thanks for providing this.
- deleted 11y ago[deleted]
- conphill 11y agoInteresting. Thanks for the short and sweet answer.
- detaro 11y agoGreen light absorbed by the red blood, heartbeats change how much blood is below the sensor -> be measuring how much light is (not) reflected it can work out the pulse. (it also has a mode using infrared light, but that is used only in special cases)
- blinkingled 11y agoThis is where Steve would've stepped in and said if you want tattoos use Android Wear.
- ithingsnoway 11y agoDo you think steve would have let the current iwatch, as is, go to market? So many little flaws.
- jeromegv 11y agoDid he let iPhone 4 "antennagate" on the market?
- rsynnott 11y agoI think the seriousness of that one was a bit exaggerated by the press, really. I mean, I used an iPhone 4 for 3.5 years. I could cause signal to drop a bar or two by pressing a specific point, hard. In general, I got better signal most places than with my old 3G. Maybe if you lived in an area with extremely poor mobile signal and held the phone a certain way it could be a big issue, but I never really saw it as a problem.
- snowwrestler 11y agoWe'll never know, and therefore I think: who cares.
- drzaiusapelord 11y ago"You're wearing it wrong." Joking aside, if this watch uses the green and infrared LED method, there's really no fix here. The Moto 360 and other watches use the same technology. If the LED light is being blocked by ink, well, too bad.
- blinkingled 11y agoYou'd think Apple would be more considerate of tattoo users than any other company :) Now that the iPhone has made them mainstream, so long, tattoo crowd!
- ejdyksen 11y agoCounter-example from Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/AppleWatch/comments/348gop/for_those_worried_about_the_sensor_having_issues/ https://www.reddit.com/r/AppleWatch/comments/348gop/for_thos...
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- damon_c 11y agoI hate to reply to a post like this but maybe I can help in some small way. Everyone should remember that the best ways to truly be an individual lie outside of items you can purchase or even your skin color.
- mistercow 11y agoApparently optical heart rate monitors also often fail on dark skin (or have to shine a brighter light, so they run out of battery faster). So they might have a "racist HP webcam" (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t4DT3tQqgRM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t4DT3tQqgRM) situation on their hands.
- MBCook 11y agoThis is apparently why Apple uses infrared LEDs in addition to the green ones. Plus the real power drain is when trying to measure heart rate, which the watch only does once every 10m so it probably doesn't make a large difference in battery life.
- spacefight 11y agoIn other news, the sensor is really something. I wonder if it's possible to identify people uniquely with it.
- epaga 11y agoIt's fascinating how each Apple release seems to follow precisely the same pattern without fail. 1. Media predicts failure of the new device since "it's not revolutionary like the original iPhone was". 2. Device is sold out within a short amount of time. Demand dwarfs supply. 3. Tech reviews are either breathless praise of the product or completely negative. 4. Customer satisfaction values are off the charts for the new device. 5. Something-gate - some usually minor technical issue is discovered and the media have another chance to write more articles. 6. The device continues to sell like hotcakes and everyone forgets about the technical issue. We have now entered phase 5...