Apple’s smart glasses may track fitness

Apple may turn its future smart glasses into a fitness device, not just a wearable for cameras, audio and notifications. According to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, the company wants to add activity tracking and fitness features—provided the required sensors can fit into a lightweight frame.

The idea follows an earlier attempt to bring workout scenarios to Apple Vision Pro. That effort never reached the market, with the headset’s weight and technical limitations working against it. Lighter glasses could track a user’s movement without the bulky head-mounted hardware.

If Apple releases its first smart glasses next year, they are unlikely to include the full fitness package from day one. The company is already looking for a specialist to define product direction for health, wellness and fitness within its Vision Products Group, however. Apple has not announced a release date, specifications or a fitness feature list.

Apple’s smart glasses and fitness strategy

Apple has used a similar expansion strategy with other products. AirPods have gained hearing-related and hearing-correction features, while the Apple Watch is marketed as both a timepiece and a health tracker. The likely path for glasses is similar: begin with everyday convenience, then add personal data and services that connect users more closely to Apple’s platform.

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Vision Pro was a poor fit for that approach because it is expensive, large and not designed for constant daily use. A lightweight pair of glasses would remove some of those barriers and give Apple a chance to bring fitness tracking to a more mass-market form factor.

How Apple could differ from Meta

Most current smart glasses focus on cameras, voice assistants, music and notifications rather than detailed sports analysis. Meta already sells Ray-Ban Meta glasses and a sports-oriented Oakley version, but the source describes their fitness capabilities as limited. Apple could therefore target a feature area where its competitors do not yet have a strong position.

Privacy would become a central issue. The deeper glasses reach into a user’s health and activity data, the more clearly Apple would need to explain what the devices measure and where that information is stored. The first version may offer only basic fitness functions, with more advanced capabilities reserved for a second iteration.

\* Meta is owned by a company recognized as an extremist organization in Russia, where its activities are prohibited.

Source: ITzine; Kod