How A Future iPhone Camera Attachment Might Help Measure Temperature

An Apple patent suggests the company wants an iPhone’s camera to double as a temperature-measuring device by using an external lens attachment.

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Apple is experimenting with the idea of using an iPhone to measure the temperature of an object’s surface, thanks to an external attachment for the camera lens that could further boost the phone’s health-centric skills. The iPhone is already a fairly capable device for fitness enthusiasts as it can track steps, assist with mindful meditation exercises, measure sleep patterns, perform menstrual cycle tracking, and a lot more.

In fact, the phone can even safely store health and medical records that can be shared with experts. However, Apple is not alone at adding new health and wellness capabilities to its smartphones. The Google Fit app uses an Android phone’s camera to measure heart rate as well as respiration rate, with the entire video stream processed on-device for the sake of security.

As per a patent filed with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) and spotted by Apple Insider, Apple aims to use an iPhone’s camera for measuring the temperature of objects in its view. Titled ‘Camera attachment and image data processing for temperature measurement,’ the patent talks about the possibility of using an external lens attachment to gauge the temperature of objects.

A Promising Innovation, But Far From Becoming Real

Apple’s patent mentions that smartphones are now ubiquitous, and it would be extremely convenient if a device with such high accessibility can be turned into a gadget that can quickly measure temperature. However, being a patent application, it mentions a lot of ways in which this capability could be implemented on an iPhone. One of those proposed methods is by using a ‘passive attachment’ that doesn’t need to source power from the device and there are no wire or connector hassles either. Essentially, Apple’s vision looks somewhat like the camera lens attachments that are readily available already.

The aforementioned attachment has a frame to fit with the phone’s camera lens, and comes equipped with what Apple calls a Temperature Reactive Material (TRM). The TRM is positioned strategically within the camera’s field of view so that when it clicks an image, at least a portion of the image shows the TRM. The image data collected by the camera lens and TRM is then collectively used to measure the temperature of a surface. Other implementations talk about positioning the TRM layer directly in the camera lens view, or indirectly by using a secondary lens or even a mirror. From the images listed in the patent application, it appears that the phone will click multiple frames and then perform a comparative analysis to measure the median temperature value.

Apple doesn’t detail the real-life usage scenarios of such an attachment, but in an age where measuring temperature has become a life-saving routine, this feature could really come in handy. Plus, it could also prove to be a useful tool for cooking enthusiasts, in the automotive industry, and the logistics business as well. However, this is a patent application after all, which means it can’t be said with any degree of certainty that an upcoming iPhone will actually gain the ability to measure the surface temperature of objects in the near future.