Apple offers rare look inside secret Apple Watch health and fitness testing labs [u]
In a new television segment aired on Friday, Apple offered an inside look at the previously secret health and fitness testing labs for the Apple Watch, hidden inside of a rather plain looking warehouse.
In a segment on Good Morning America, ABCNews revealed that a number of Apple workers, ranging from developers and engineers to managers, were participating in tests for almost two years without knowing the purpose behind them until the Watch was unveiled. Subjects were asked to wear masks and other expensive sensor equipment while participating in activities like running and yoga.
The subjects would also wear Apple Watches, according to Apple's senior VP of Operations, Jeff Williams, but the prototype hardware would be covered up.
The company's director of Fitness and Health technologies, Jay Blahnik, said that in order to test the Watch's environmental resistance, the company brought the device to places as distant as Alaska and Dubai. But special "climate chambers" were installed in the labs as well, allowing Apple to simulate activities in extreme heat and cold.
On the scale of the project, Blahnik said that the company has amassed "what may be one of the world's largest pieces of data on fitness," and that the company's fitness efforts are just beginning. "We think there's a lot to this fitness thing...the impact on health could be profound."
Friday's report is a rare instance of Apple allowing the media inside its secret labs, where it goes to great efforts to conceal future products it is working on. In 2010, the company took media on tours of its iPhone test labs to demonstrate the efforts it goes to in order to ensure strong signal quality on its handsets.
Although the first-generation Apple Watch only has motion and heartrate sensors, some past reports have hinted that Apple was experimenting with collecting much more data, such as glucose levels. The company is believed to have abandoned less conventional sensors when they proved impractical, but it could conceivably expand tracking efforts in later devices.
Update: ABC's Nightline aired an extended version of the video, revealing that test subjects are Apple employees from various departments, including software engineering. The company has conducted 10,000 test sessions and accumulated 18,000 hours of data on a number of workouts, including outside activities like bicycling.
In a segment on Good Morning America, ABCNews revealed that a number of Apple workers, ranging from developers and engineers to managers, were participating in tests for almost two years without knowing the purpose behind them until the Watch was unveiled. Subjects were asked to wear masks and other expensive sensor equipment while participating in activities like running and yoga.
The subjects would also wear Apple Watches, according to Apple's senior VP of Operations, Jeff Williams, but the prototype hardware would be covered up.
The company's director of Fitness and Health technologies, Jay Blahnik, said that in order to test the Watch's environmental resistance, the company brought the device to places as distant as Alaska and Dubai. But special "climate chambers" were installed in the labs as well, allowing Apple to simulate activities in extreme heat and cold.
On the scale of the project, Blahnik said that the company has amassed "what may be one of the world's largest pieces of data on fitness," and that the company's fitness efforts are just beginning. "We think there's a lot to this fitness thing...the impact on health could be profound."
Friday's report is a rare instance of Apple allowing the media inside its secret labs, where it goes to great efforts to conceal future products it is working on. In 2010, the company took media on tours of its iPhone test labs to demonstrate the efforts it goes to in order to ensure strong signal quality on its handsets.
Although the first-generation Apple Watch only has motion and heartrate sensors, some past reports have hinted that Apple was experimenting with collecting much more data, such as glucose levels. The company is believed to have abandoned less conventional sensors when they proved impractical, but it could conceivably expand tracking efforts in later devices.
Update: ABC's Nightline aired an extended version of the video, revealing that test subjects are Apple employees from various departments, including software engineering. The company has conducted 10,000 test sessions and accumulated 18,000 hours of data on a number of workouts, including outside activities like bicycling.
Comments
Apple has the money to do this, the others can not afford to spend the time and money getting a product like this to market.
I recognize the building they went into, it is on Bandley Dr.
People seem to say "they don't wear a watch" as though that were some sort of insurmountable barrier to buying an Apple Watch.
What Apple are clearly doing here is providing to these sorts of people some reasons why they may want to reconsider that decision - specifically in relation to fitness in this instance.
If you don't wear a watch now, you might in future wear a 'smart' one if you perceive enough benefit from the extra facilities, feedback and information that the device provides.
Personally, I'm already sold. I'm not a keep fit fanatic, but already being the owner of a Moto 360 (which, with Android Wear is rather limited) I can see the beginnings of the advantages in tracking my activity. I want to loose a bit of weight and this is giving me the nudge. I bought the '360 because I wanted it for development purposes. I'm going to buy the Apple Watch because I want the 'gold standard' in currently available wearable technology.
Go for a walk each day and eat and drink in moderation.
No Apple Watch required.
There's no great secret to being fit and healthy.
Go for a walk each day and eat and drink in moderation.
No Apple Watch required.
Easier said than done for many people.
Fat people and severely obese people are everywhere. These fatsos are obviously not capable of keeping themselves healthy on their own. Some of those fatsos will no doubt benefit from an Apple Watch.
I think that the health aspect of the Apple watch is probably its most important feature.
I agree that the Apple Watch is being touted principally as a health and fitness device.
I remain skeptical that it will make any substantial improvement to the health of fatties and huge fatsos.
If a fat man is to lose weight, he needs to want to lose weight. If he has the desire, then it will happen, Apple Watch or no Apple Watch.
I agree that the Apple Watch is being touted principally as a health and fitness device.
I remain skeptical that it will make any substantial improvement to the health of fat and very fat people.
If a fat man is to lose weight, he needs to want to lose weight. If he has the desire, then it will happen, Apple Watch or no Apple Watch.
I agree that if personal motivation and will power is not present in a person, then no gadget will help them, not even a $17,000 Apple Watch.
It's like being a smoker or an alcoholic. If they do not truly wish to quit their addiction, then they will not succeed.
No matter how good the Apple watch functions, it wont magically make fat people healthy. An unmotivated fat person will end up dying earlier than other normal people, Apple watch or no Apple watch.
I do see it as a useful tool for certain people though, who are into tech and health.
There's no great secret to being fit and healthy.
Go for a walk each day and eat and drink in moderation.
No Apple Watch required.
You know, you always have such profound fucking insight, you should write a book or something. No doubt will be a bestseller.
It's amazing how vehemently and giddily you've been shitting on the fitness features of the Apple Watch, which will no doubt give people useful data about their day, and motivate them to better their routines. You simply can't seem to comprehend the concept that visual data can help quantify and motivate, just like how visualizing the information in your bank account can help you get a better overall idea of your financials and help you to make better decisions. It's also telling how you refuse to give Apple a shred of credit for doing their homework and sincerely trying to get the best data they can, in the obvious lengths this video shows they've gone through. You think Google, Samsung, Fitbit, or any other company have set up something like this for their wearables? Have some fucking humility for once, instead of shitting on everything, and pretending you've got everything figured out. And no, there's more to health than "go for a walk and eat in moderation".
There's no great secret to being fit and healthy.
Go for a walk each day and eat and drink in moderation.
No Apple Watch required.
In that case, take some of your own advice then....
Go take a hike.
Thank you for your kind words; I may do just that.
With the support of people like you, it may, indeed, become a bestseller.
Believe in yourself and anything is possible.
Ok...we'll see
Jeff Williams as the favourite for CEO after Cook? Interesting.
I wonder if Cook has groomed his successor yet.
Speaking of health, I'm not fat, but I do like to have a cig every now and then. Nicotine is pretty addicting and is no joke.
I completely quit analog cigs about four days ago, and have migrated completely to E-cigs now. I have one recharging and plugged into my Mac right now. They work great, and I don't see myself ever smoking an analog cig ever again.
I do still smoke analog weed though, but I have just ordered a vaporizer for that today, so soon, I will have taken care of that too.
Smart marketing move, and way ahead in physical data gathering. So looking forward to increased feedback possibilities on personal data workouts in/outside. Downside for me is I don't wear a watch. My pops does but heavy sports and exercise aren't his thing.
More people need to realize that once the apps start pouring in, this wrist-worn computer won't be a watch.
More people need to realize that once the apps start pouring in, this wrist-worn computer won't be a watch.
That is true. It's like the iPhone is not really a phone, it's a super computer in your pocket.
The Apple watch is a wrist worn computer, and has very little in common with any old fashioned time pieces that are known as "watches".
There's no great secret to being fit and healthy.
Go for a walk each day and eat and drink in moderation.
No Apple Watch required.
It has never been a secret, that is true. Some people know this and live this without any extra motivation. But some people need a little bit more of a nudge and/or some bio-feedback. Bio-feedback, in particular, has proven to be its own great motivator. For instance, actually observing your resting heart-rate go down over time tends to get people excited and even more likely to stick with the program. Weight helps too, once a great deal is lost, but it tends to be so connected with the concept of appearance that the daily variations can sometimes serve to demotivate. Most people haven't lived with the concept of "ideal heart rate", so just tracking their personal improvements may do wonders, even if/when variations look like a minor step back.