The new Apple Watch Series 8 has an improved gyroscope and accelerometer that can detect if you’ve been in a car accident. It was one of many announcements during Apple’s event Wednesday in Cupertino, California, where the company showcased its latest service and technical innovations.
Google has offered auto accident detection for some time on some Pixel smartphone models and newly announced devices. iPhone 14, iPhone 14 Plus and iPhone 14 Pro have it. But the Series 8 is one of those smartwatches – if not the only one on the market with this feature.
Detecting car accidents on Series 8 – which is rumor late last year – enabled by a new three-axis gyroscope and “high g-force” accelerometer that sample data four times faster than the previous generation (and up to 256 Gs of force). Leveraging an algorithm that runs on the device, along with a barometer, the Series 8 can detect accidents in most vehicle types and automatically notify emergency contacts and services if the user fails to respond. within 10 seconds, Apple said.
Image credits: Apple
Apple explains it like that in one Press Release:
To create [crash detection] algorithms, data is collected from these new motion sensors at professional crash testing laboratories with conventional passenger vehicles in simulated real-life crashes, including direct collisions. front, rear-end collisions, side-impact collisions, and vehicle overturns.
In addition to motion data, crash detection uses barometer, GPS, and microphone on [a paired] iPhone as input to detect unique patterns that can indicate whether a serious accident has occurred… When a serious auto accident is detected, the emergency services call interface appears appears on the Apple Watch, as it is more likely to be near the user, while the call is made through the iPhone if it is within the best possible connection range.
Apple is said to have used data shared anonymously by iPhone and Apple Watch users to develop the aforementioned algorithm. According to The Wall Street Journal, Apple mined a dataset of more than 10 million suspected vehicle impacts to improve the accuracy of its crash detection system, cross-referencing crash data with calls to 911 – for crashes. Accidents involving 911 calls are more likely to be legitimate.
