One of the most interesting innovations of the new iPhone and Apple Watch is Crash Detection. We already told you about it then as one of the points that Apple focused on when introducing the iPhone 14, Apple Watch Series 8 and Apple Watch Ultra. Those from Cupertino decided to go in this direction after receiving feedback about the usefulness of their devices in emergency situations where a connected device can make a big difference.

The new iPhone and Apple Watch models thus have a set of gyroscopic units, an accelerometer capable of accurately detecting movements with a very high G load, and the necessary software for constantly monitoring the measured values ​​of both elements.automatically and instantly identifies any type of collision, either front, back, side or if we have rolled over. If we find ourselves unconscious due to circumstances, it is a great measure of safety.

When a collision is detected, Crash Detection starts a 10-second countdown and if the user does not cancel it, the device automatically contacts the emergency services and also informs our emergency contacts (if we have them). , of course). Therefore, we will send a distress signal with our exact location, even if we lost consciousness at the time.

That sounds wonderful, of course, everyone would like to have something like that. However, over the course of months, we became aware of some cases false positive, like the one Crash Detection can be activated when we get to the roller coaster. And yes, it’s true that it can be an extreme experience, but unless our hearts stop in shock, it seems unlikely that we’ll need help coming down.

As we can read in Gizchina, it seems that the problem is much more widespread than it seems at first glance, to the extent that Crash Detection is becoming a problem for emergency services around the world.. For example, a report from the Kita-Alps Fire Department in Nagano, Japan said that between December 16 and January 23 alone, they received at least 134 crash detection reports that turned out to be false positives, mostly from people who were skiing.

The intent of Crash Detection is very positive, and once polished, it will surely be an essential technology that other manufacturers will surely adopt. However, to date, it appears that the system tests have not been extensive enough to identify all (or at least the most popular) activities where Crash Detection might fail in order to look for solutions to such errors. 10 to Apple for the idea, but so far a failure to evaluate how it works before it’s released.