There are drastic steps to take, if your tattoo is hampering your Apple Watch
If you're thinking about getting a wrist tattoo, your Apple Watch may not be able to detect your pulse -- but it's fixable with some money and pain.
An Apple Watch could have trouble with a user's tattoos
The Apple Watch, like many other wrist wearables, relies on light to gather data points about a user's heart activity. However, users with tattoos on their wrist can sometimes find that the sensor doesn't work all the time.
In a post to TikTok, a person is seen undergoing a laser tattoo removal procedure on their wrist. A tattoo sleeve covers the wrist, which causes the Apple Watch sensor to fail.
@hwclinicbrugge Did you know that an apple watch and a tattoo are not a good combination #apple #applewatch #tattooremoval #tattoos #asmr #fyp #picoplus #satisfying #picolaser #brugge #hwclinicbrugge som original - maclarao
The laser treatment is performed on the outside of the user's wrist within a temporarily drawn circle. The 15-second clip shows part of the procedure, with the tattoo being vaporized by the laser.
Posted by cosmetic nurse Maryam Khatibi on May 24, the video has so far garnered 3.5 million views on the social media service to date.
Explaining to Newsweek, Khatibi said that the patient had four sessions to remove the tattoo, costing 380 euros ($418).
Blocked light
This is a problem that some Apple Watch users have encountered for quite some time, with reports on the matter spanning almost as long as the Apple Watch has existed.
The Apple Watch monitors the user's pulse and blood oxygen level using a process known as photolethysmography. By shining infrared and green lights into the skin, the sensors in the Apple Watch can detect blood flow.
As red blood can reflect red light and absorb green light, by using infrared and green LEDs and photodiodes, the Apple Watch can detect the amount of blood flow in the wrist at that moment. Thanks to green light absorption being greater with flows from a heartbeat, the Apple Watch can also detect a user's pulse.
Infrared is usually used for heart rate notifications and for background monitoring. Green is used to measure the heart rate during workouts and Breathe sessions.
Apple does warn that "Permanent or temporary changes to your skin, such as some tattoos, can also impact the performance of the heart rate sensor." It's explained that the ink, pattern, and saturation of a tattoo can block light from reaching the sensor, which can interfere with readings.
There are some ways to work around a tattoo, such as wearing the Apple Watch on the opposite wrist if that arm doesn't have an interfering tattoo. It's also possible to connect the Apple Watch to external heart rate monitors, including Bluetooth chest straps, for monitoring during workouts.
Read on AppleInsider
Comments
Tattoos are the modern equivalent of 1970s bell bottom pants. It's a fad. After a couple generations, people will probably wisen up and stop getting inked like their insane parents. Problem is, when the fad is over, you can't just wist those near-permanent tattoos away like you can throw horrible looking pants into the garbage bin.
People do the dumbest things when they are young. In the past, it was mainly sailors or select folk in the US military who tended to go for ink on skin. Now, it seems like everybody (in the USA, thankfully not here in Japan) are doing the deed, only to later discover the caveats.
Aside from malfunctioning Apple watches though, one would be wise to bear in mind how those tattoos will look in the future. I vividly recall a preacher in church who showed me the tattoos he got in his younger days. They were all over his forearms. I saw them when he was in his 70's, and they looked awful. Ink under skin doesn't age gracefully, let me tell you.
Besides all this, I think human beings are too fickle to get something permanently done. Will you really enjoy the same thing 20 years hence that you enjoy today? I know I don't. Things change. People change. Tattoos change too, but only in a bad way.
What would be really neat is if you could get a tattoo (without pain) that wouldn't wash off in the shower, but which you could remove somewhat easily at home by exposing it to certain light wavelengths. Probably impossible, but the point here is that I realize younger people want to have some fun, but removing that fun more easily later is key. And now to get your Apple Watch working, you have to spend a hefty amount of money, trust someone other than yourself to do the job, and have another painful experience too. Doesn't make much logical sense. Spock would definitely not approve.
But it would seem you feel attacked... because you are full of tats yourself?
You also mistakenly assumed I am Japanese. I was born and raised in the USA and am a US citizen who knows US culture well, although I don't agree with some aspects of it. I've come to learn a lot about Japan in my nearly 3 decades living here.
But there's nothing that magical or sacred about "culture" in my mind. I don't worship culture. That's because culture is nothing more than a bunch of people who live near each other coming together and saying, "let's do things a certain way." That's somewhat of an oversimplification, perhaps, but that's what it boils down to.
Having "respect' for other cultures therefore means just trying your best to get along and not doing things intentionally that you know would tick off people who have a different standard than you do. But culture is constantly changing, just like the fads I mentioned. It's a moving target. If your world view doesn't tick off people today, it surely will tomorrow. If time travel were possible, and a US born-and-raised citizen traveled 100 years into the future to be present with us today, they'd be shocked. That's because the US culture they were raised in is largely gone today. A lot has changed, and not all for the good.
Getting ink under one's skin which causes high-tech to malfunction isn't progress. Like I said, it's basically a more permanent form of bell bottom pants. It's yet another fad many people will come to regret, especially when they're 80 and look at that blob mess under their skin and ask themselves, "what was I thinking?" There's no need for me to look at ink-under-skin culture and respect that, because at some point in the future, the culture will change toward it and folks at that time will likely look back and say, yep, that was a bad idea. One can argue those future people "have no respect for culture" but those future people couldn't care less.
What is logical is for us to wisely consider the way we live our life today and question the things we do, both good and bad. Let us logically consider what makes the most sense in the long run. Let us set a better example before our children. Let us embrace individual liberty, but with sane limits. I could give my child the freedom to play in a busy street for the sake of letting them do as they please, but if they die as a result, what good was the freedom I granted to them? These are the common sense limits we must impose to make people truly free. We you love someone, you tell them things, from time to time, they don't necessarily want to hear. An external observer may view that is limiting their freedom. Others would say it doesn't show enough "respect." Yet others would scream, "mind your own business!" But at the end of the day, logical and reasoned thought must be preached to prevail. And some people will be offended when any topic is spoken in public. But so be it. You can't please all the people all the time. But sometimes your words will reach a few open-minded people who make the effort worthwhile.
Let it be known that I have two brothers who live in California and who both have tattoos, and while I don’t have respect for their decision to get those tattoos, that doesn’t mean I do not like them. It doesn’t mean I don’t have respect for them overall.
It is also problematic to proclaim that other people should “respect” our thinking in every way, regardless of whether we like those thoughts or not. The fact that we do not all think alike and do not all respect every thought that comes out of everyone’s head is actually a good thing.
You and I think differently, but that doesn’t mean I need to “respect” your way of thinking anymore than you need to respect my thoughts. We should be “cordial“ with each other, but so far we seem to be doing that despite our disagreement. And that’s good enough.
You then said, "I wouldn't presume to lecture you..." I think that statement indicates you have the belief that if someone speaks more than a couple sentences on a given topic (like I have done), that person is lecturing the listener. But when I write, I share my thoughts. I do not intentionally speak as a lecturer. I am an electrical engineer by trade, not a college professor. So I cannot help but speculate that you perhaps might mistakenly believe people like me, who are GenX and who know that multi-paragraph writing is not inherently offensive, are "self-professed experts." As I said, that is not the case. If I thought I was an expert on this topic, I would plainly say so. But instead, I am plainly saying that I am no different than you or anyone else here. You and I are but two people typing on keyboards in a forum under an article that's here today and gone tomorrow. Meaning, what we are saying right now really doesn't matter so much.
So why am I replying back to you if our words really don't matter so much? First, I don't wish to offend you further, as funny as that may sound. I just wish to clarify things I feel you may not fully understand, as they pertain to my previous messages in this thread. If my words right now are interpreted by you as a "lecture," so be it, but that is not my intent. A the end of the day, I am just talking to a fellow Apple products lover, and we happen to have different ways of thinking on this particular topic. That's it. No doubt we share more in common than we share in disagreement.
Like I said before, I harbor no ill will toward you. Mature and educated people can agree to disagree. I made that attempt in the closing of my previous message, and so I shall do it again here.
Putting all that aside, you mentioned that you've lurked here forever but don't post a lot. I think that bodes well for our discussion. Had I said nothing, it could be you might have said nothing. And sometimes it's good to say something, even when disagreement later takes place. So I do hope that positive result of your participation in this forum remains with us. I have the gut feeling you have a lot to contribute in this forum, and I would encourage you to continue. Personally, I am not somebody who lives and breaths in this forum. I read the articles, and occasionally one provokes me to write something, as was the case here. But I don't reply to every article.
As to visiting Japan, there's never been a better time. I'd suggest this summer, if at all possible. The exchange rate is an incredible ¥160 to the US Dollar right now. The Yen is weak. Your Dollars have enormous buying power. It's not clear on how long that will last. So please do pull the trigger on an air ticket purchase and enjoy Tokyo, Kyoto and Hiroshima. I've been to them all, and I would say Kyoto is the best of the 3, but Hiroshima is truly a highlight for historical reasons. Tokyo is really just a large city with way too many people in it. Even so, Tokyo should be on the list of places to visit, as should Mt. Fuji. I've actually climbed Mt. Fuji once. My wife has climbed it twice. No ropes or spiked shoes required. It just takes stamina. You start the climb from the upper part of the mountain and it takes 6 hours to walk to the top. Even in the hottest part of August (the only time they let you climb it), it's 32°F / 0°C at the peak. My wife and I climbed it in the evening so we can take photos of the sunrise the following morning, but my goodness it was cold! Lots to see and do here in Japan, so I once again would like to encourage you to make the trip. It will be well worth it.