Tech

Iphone 14, Apple Watch and roller coasters

One of the most interesting novelties, of the arrivals with the iPhone 14, Apple Watch Series 8, Apple Watch Ultra and Apple Watch SE, is found in crash detection, a function that combines the readings of the gyroscopic unit and an accelerometer capable of accurately detecting movements with a very high G load, in order to detect in real time if we have suffered some type of collision. Crash Detection is capable of detecting frontal, rear and lateral collisions, as well as when we have overturned, and in case of this it will initiate an emergency protocol.

Given the risk that a false positive has occurred, the system will first display a 10-second countdown and, at the end, will automatically contact the emergency services and, if we have them configured, it will also alert our emergency contacts of what happened (well, what its sensors have interpreted). For some time now, and especially with the Apple Watch, those from Cupertino are focusing on how their devices with cellular connectivity can make a difference in emergencies, and Crash Detection is one more step, and quite a long one, in that sense.

The approach is good, the idea makes sense and, once in operationcan make the difference between an immediate notification to the emergency services after an accident, or the loss of time that can be vital in many circumstances of this type. In first aid and health care for accident victims, the first sixty minutes and the care received during them are of paramount importance in the outcome of the incident.

Iphone 14, Apple Watch and roller coasters

So, as a starting point, this first generation of Crash Detection is a good idea. Now, we are talking about a complex development and, as such, hopefully it will evolve for the better in future versions. And it is that Apple claims to have tested the function with more than a million hours of car accident data and driving analysis in the real world, but it does not seem to have completed the tests taking into account other circumstances, and this would be translating into a unexpected effect.

And it is that, as we can read in The Wall Street Journal, Crash Detection on several iPhones 14 would have identified the use of a roller coaster as a traffic accident. And of course, as a consequence, it would have issued false alarms both to the emergency services and to the emergency contacts of the people affected by the problem. And it is that, in these circumstances, it seems quite likely not to notice the warning message and the countdown.

Is this a criticism of Crash Detection? Not really. Yes, it is true that it is a failure to take into account when using the affected devices, but it is no less true that We’re talking about unusual circumstances.. Let’s hope Apple steps up to fix this, and users of the latest-gen iPhone 14 and Apple Watch will pay attention to their devices when riding roller coasters (or bumper cars, and the like), and that the second generation, or perhaps an update of the first, is capable of differentiating this type of entertainment from a road collision.

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