10 Different Sensors You’ll Find In Your Smartwatch
Smartwatches have become indispensable gadgets regarding safety, style, and comfort. Additionally, they can act as a fitness tracker and help you monitor your health.
They come with a ton of useful features that make them more than just a simple timepiece. For instance, a variety of sensors in your smartwatch can help you better grasp your health and fitness goals and gather additional information to help you make informed decisions.
Let’s take a closer look at the various types of sensors found in smartwatches and how they work.
1. Accelerometer
With a smartwatch, you’ll be able to take your fitness regime with you on the go.
An accelerometer is a useful sensor in fitness trackers, heart rate monitors, smartwatches, and smartphones. Generally, it can be handy when you’re trying tonavigate around using Google Mapsor similar, or change the screen orientation, and more, when used in conjunction with other sensors.
The accelerometer can track your activity levels and offer insights based on your health goals. It tells you more about the movements of your body and provides you with a measure of step counts and activity levels by detecting resistance to small streams of electrical currents transmitted by your watch.
It can also measure the quality of sleep you’re getting—whether you’re getting restful sleep or having continuous interruptions based on your movements during sleep cycles.
GPS is a satellite-based positioning system that provides location information. The most common application of GPS technology is to track your location and provide turn-by-turn directions for easy navigation.
With GPS in a smartwatch, smartphone, or fitness tracker, your watch can find an exact location through triangulation. It works by calculating the discrepancy between signals—when the satellite signal was sent to your watch and when it was received.
GPS receivers can give you real-time fitness metrics, locate you on a map, and measure your speed, distance, and time while running or biking (along with other sensors like an accelerometer and gyroscope). You can get an idea of how long it takes you to get around, what routes you wish to take when you bike or jog or walk, and more.
3. Gyroscope
Gyroscopes are a key component of any wearable device. These sensors measure angular rates or velocity and tell you more about the direction and speed of movement by detecting orientation changes.
it’s possible to get information about your current location and speed with these sensors. In this way, it can identify whether you’re running, walking, jogging, or doing some other form of physical activity.
Further, your smartwatch is constantly checking for changes in its orientation. If you move your wrist, it will notify you in real time and wake up the display. Essentially, it helps to detect motion, track activities and gestures, and improve the overall functionality of your smartwatch.
4. SPO2/ Oximetry Sensors
On smartwatches, oximetry sensors are vital diagnostic devices that measure peripheral oxygen saturation or blood oxygen levels. Most smartwatches use reflectance pulse oximetry technology to measure the amount of infrared light reflected on your skin.
The smartwatch discharges visible infrared light through the skin on your wrist (the area where the pulse is located). The sensors will then detect the amounts of red light reflected by saturated hemoglobin and unsaturated hemoglobin in your body and provide SPO2 levels accordingly.
Usually, a score of 95 and higher indicates normal oxygen levels.
5. Bio-Impedance Sensors
Bio-impedance sensors can measure the amount of electrical current flowing through your body. They measure changes in the impedance, resistance, or electrical conductivity of living tissues.
It can easily detect your health activities and state of well-being by measuring the changes in conductivity. TheSamsung Galaxy Watch 4 body composition featureuses the BIA technology to display information about calories burned, fat levels, skeletal muscle mass, and more.
These sensors can detect how active you’ve been. More often than not, you may have noticed that your smartwatch prompts you to start walking if you’ve been inactive for a while. Fitness devices use this feature to remind you to start moving around to get some exercise, and it can help you regulate your metabolism and maintain a healthier lifestyle.
Bio-impedance sensors are commonly used by athletes who want to know how well their strength training and endurance exercises are working for them.
6. Magnetometer
The magnetometer (or compass sensor) is a type of motion sensor on your smartwatch that detects the presence and strength of magnetic fields across the three vertical axes of X, Y, and Z, to determine how strong the device’s magnetic field is, which is then used to determine its orientation.
In smartwatches and other wearables, the magnetometer allows motion detection, tracking, and direction. The smartwatch’s accelerometer also measures movement—when used in conjunction with the magnetometer, it allows you to get a sense of speed, direction, and acceleration.
7. Heart Rate Monitor
The heart rate sensor is a vital component that keeps track of your heartbeats per minute (BPM) and checks for abnormalities, helping you monitor your health in real time.
Most smartwatches and fitness trackers use PPG (Photoplethysmography) technology—high-precision light sensors that use a light source at the back of your watch to measure the amount of red and green light reflected from the skin of your wrist.
During normal blood flow, a higher amount of red light is reflected from your skin, and more green light tends to be absorbed, whereas there is relatively less absorption of green light between heartbeats.
In this way, these sensors detect the volume of blood flow and can be used to determine if your pulse rate is normal or erratic by detecting the amount of light reflected from your skin. In high-end smartwatches, they offer near-accurate results.
Heart rate monitors can also detect irregularities in your pulse. If you have abnormally high or low heart rates, your smartwatch will pick up on that andsend an SOSto your emergency contact(s).
8. Skin Temperature Sensors
With the rise in popularity of smartwatches and fitness-tracking devices, more and more people are looking for ways to track andmake the most of their health metrics.
Smartwatches such as the Fitbit Versa 3 and Samsung Galaxy Watch 5 come equipped with skin or body temperature sensors that can measure your “peripheral” body temperature after strenuous physical activity such as workouts and can even help manage stress levels.
They can be useful for monitoring activities that increase body heat, such as walking, running, jogging, swimming, and more. This can provide useful insights—an estimate of your core body temperature, detecting sleep patterns, and the onset of menstrual cycles in women.
9. Gesture Sensors
Gesture sensors are a great way to make your smartwatch more useful and intuitive. For example, they allow you to wake up the display or disconnect a call with a flick of your wrist. It is in line withusing gesture controls on your smartphone, which can be used to quickly access shortcuts to apps or settings or perform specified actions.
This goes a long way to improve user experience and personalize your interaction with smartphones or wearable devices. Gesture sensors are particularly useful for people who have dexterity issues.
10. UV Sensors
Sunlight is one of the most important sources of vitamin D, which is essential to keep your body healthy. However, overexposure to UV radiation can cause skin cancer or melanoma in the long term. You can use thesedermatology apps to assess your skin conditionand early warning signs of potential skin disorders.
UV sensors are one of the most important features of smartwatches because they help you stay safe by alerting you before sun exposure becomes harmful so that you can take due precautions and avoid negative consequences.
Know More About Your Smartwatch
If you aren’t already aware of the benefits that come with a smartwatch, hopefully, we’ve been able to shed some light on what goes behind the scenes to make them so useful.
Looking to take your fitness routine to the next level? We’re highlighting some great smart gadgets to use.
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