A report earlier this month suggested that Apple is working on embedding cameras into AirPods, followed yesterday by another suggesting the inclusion of Apple Watch cameras too.
Apple has for many years been exploring the idea of adding a camera to the Apple Watch, but the latest report suggests a very specific usage …
AirPods and Apple Watch cameras
There are potential arguments for adding a camera to an Apple Watch for conventional applications. For example, some joggers prefer to leave their iPhones and home and rely on a cellular Watch during their runs. A Watch equipped with a camera could be used for impromptu photo opps.
Some have also suggested an Apple Watch camera could be useful for FaceTime calls, Jetsons style.
But what Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman describes is the use of a camera to provide Apple Intelligence with a view of the wearer’s environment.
Apple is exploring the idea of adding cameras and visual intelligence features to its smartwatch, thrusting the company into the AI wearables market […] The current idea is to put the camera inside the display of the Series version, like the front-facing lens on the iPhone. The Ultra will take a different approach, with the camera lens sitting on the side of the watch near the crown and button.
This also ties in with his earlier report on AirPods with cameras.
Apple is working on a new version of the AirPods Pro that uses external cameras and artificial intelligence to understand the outside world and provide information to the user. This would essentially be the smart glasses path — but without actual glasses.
Visual intelligence
The first and most obvious application would be for Visual Intelligence. Currently we have to pull our iPhone out of our pocket and long-press the Camera Control button to “show” Apple Intelligence what it is we’re seeing. With forward-facing cameras embedded into AirPods, it might in future be possible to just use a “Hey, Siri” command.
Apple Watch usage might not be quite so seamless, especially if the camera is embedded in the display, but could potentially still be more convenient than an iPhone.
But could also provide ambient awareness
We’ve seen a some frankly-silly AI hardware launches, with Jony Ive reportedly seeking a billion-dollar bet for his own attempt. But while the idea of buying and wearing AI-specific hardware is clearly nonsensical, there is one element that might make sense in the devices we already wear: ongoing awareness of where we are and what is in our environment.
That is, not just activating the camera when we ask a question, but using periodic photos or short video clips to provide Apple Intelligence with context for where we are and what we’re doing.
For example, if my Apple device can see that I’m walking into the video games section of the Science Museum, that could provide helpful context for understanding questions I’m likely to ask while I’m there. Knowing where I am and what’s around me could instantly make Siri significantly smarter.
It could also help Apple Intelligence learn more about the world more generally, just by grabbing snippets of my everyday life.
Of course, any unprompted camera use raises privacy concerns. It clearly wouldn’t be acceptable for our Apple devices to be grabbing photos and video clips without our knowledge, far less uploading them even to Private Cloud Compute for analysis. But strong privacy protections could potentially make this viable. For example:
- Ambient awareness is strictly an opt-in feature
- It uses only on-device processing, so ambient visual data never leaves our device
- Images and video are permanently deleted immediately after processing
- It’s geo-fenced to be deactivated at home, and optionally at work
- It’s similarly deactivated when it sees us approaching any residential building
- A Control Center toggle gives instant access to manually disabling it
Would you want that option on your devices, given privacy controls you considered acceptable? Please share your thoughts in the comments.
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