Apple receives patent for smartwatch with a camera

Apple received a patent earlier this month from the Patent and Trademark Office that describes a smartwatch with a camera. 

While the camera is located on the device’s bottom surface, the top of the wristband and the watch would be detachable. 

The user could take off that component, point and shoot, before clipping it back into the wristband. 

“The camera includes an image sensor disposed behind the bottom cover of the housing relative to a field of view of the camera and the scene to be captured. The camera has a FOV pointing out the bottom side of the housing so that pictures of a scene may be taken when the housing is removed from the wrist,” the patent said. 

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One of the new Apple Watch 8 series is displayed during a launch event for new products at Apple Park in Cupertino, California, on Sept. 7, 2022.  ((Photo by BRITTANY HOSEA-SMALL/AFP via Getty Images))

In an illustration, the bottom cover is disposed between the image sensor and the scene viewed by the image sensor and the camera. 

The patent notes that “it is contemplated a camera or sensor can be integrated in any other suitable location, such as in or on a crown, a button, the top side of the housing, the sidewall or the like.” 

The newly renovated Apple Store at Fifth Avenue is pictured on September 19, 2019, in New York City.  ((Photo by JOHANNES EISELE/AFP via Getty Images))

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Furthermore, the patent said that it may be “advantageous” to remove the housing from the wrist for any of a variety of other functions, like physiological sensing of body parts other than the wrist or phone calls.  

A new Apple Watch is displayed during an Apple special event on Sept. 7, 2022, in Cupertino, California.  ((Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images))

This is not the first Apple patent that details such a design, with a previous patent filed in 2019 reported to have a camera integrated into the digital crown. 

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Nearly 40 more patents were granted to the tech giant last week, according to Patently Apple.