Apple Watch with accident sensor: detection failed in the crash test (with video)
Created: 05/10/2022, 06:00
By: Marcus Efler
The new Apple Watch and the iPhone 14 should automatically detect accidents and sound the alarm.
However, in a crash test with several attempts, the detection system did not trigger.
Update from October 4, 2022, 3:00 p.m.:
It was only a matter of time before car or gadget testers would try out one of the new functions of the Apple Watch 8, Ultra or the iPhone 14: crash detection, should alert the emergency services in the event of a car accident.
Now the American YouTuber Luke Miani has tried the system – by installing several devices in scrap cars and then letting it rip several times.
The sobering result: not once did the Apple Watch or iPhone hit - although a very violent impact with a driverless car pulled on a rope was part of the program, as well as a rollover down a slope.
"It doesn't work," summed up the Apple crashers.
Apple Watch with accident sensor: detection failed in the crash test
To be fair, however, one must also add that the tests were not standardized crash tests, but rather uncoordinated banging around.
However, the corresponding video should not fail to have an impact on the 407,000 subscribers to the technology YouTuber.
Here it is:
First report from September 8, 2022, 1:02 p.m .:
September is the most important month of the year for many Apple fans: Then the Cupertino company presents its new iPhones, and some other gadgets like the next generation of the watch ( the presentation of the iCar, on the other hand, will probably have to wait a few more years).
The Apple Watch in particular made its big appearance in the live stream from Cupertino this year: Several customers gave emotional reports of situations in which the wristwatch had probably saved their lives.
Apple Watch 8 with accident sensor: This is how it works, it can do it
In addition to extensive medical functions that monitor, for example, heart rhythm or blood oxygen content, the smartwatch also has sensors that can detect falls by joggers or cyclists, for example, and alert rescue services.
The newly presented eighth generation adds another one: A detection of car accidents, the "Crash Detection".
Knight in shining armor?
Apple Watch, here the outdoor version Ultra.
©Apple
Apple Watch 8 with accident sensor: One million data evaluated
It activates automatically and only when the wearer of the Apple Watch 8 or Ultra drives in the car.
A revised three-axis gyroscope and a new accelerometer that can detect up to 256 g then capture the environment 3,000 times per second.
There is also data from the barometer, microphone and GPS.
An algorithm compares its input with a million crash data that Apple has collected in simulations.
This allows him to recognize four types of accidents:
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frontal impact
side crash
rear-end collision
rollover
If any of this happens, the Apple Watch triggers a ten-second countdown.
If the driver does not consciously stop him, emergency services are automatically alerted.
Background to this effort: Almost half of all serious accidents in the US happen in rural areas, and most of the time no other vehicle is involved.
The drivers involved in the accident are then on their own.
Seen in this way, crash detection is a useful addition to the Apple Watch.
After a crash, this message appears on the display of the Apple Watch 8. © Apple
Apple Watch 8 with accident sensor: addition to eCall
However, European drivers always have a similar system with them, even without it - at least if they are sitting in a reasonably modern car.
Because since April 2018, the so-called eCall has been mandatory in new cars.
It automatically alerts emergency services and transmits the location if, for example, the airbag is deployed, and can also be activated manually.
There are also similar systems that some car manufacturers such as Mercedes-Benz also install as standard.
Here, however, the emergency call first goes to the car brand's own headquarters.
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Apple's crash detection is primarily a backup for existing technologies, but it certainly can't do any harm.
And what you hope you never need.