For those feeling a headache coming on, stopping one's routine just to take one's temperature can be annoying and uncomfortable. Back in 2018, Google heard these cries and said "challenge accepted" with its patent for earbud temperature monitoring. U.S. Patent No. 10,016,162 allows an in-ear monitor to check a user's temperature all while they are listening to their favorite songs. The patent suggests that users would obtain a special pair of headphones from their doctor or from purchase at a pharmacy. While the patent doesn't specifically mention COVID-19, as it was filed in 2015, it does mention using the temperature readings to help diagnose other notable pandemic diseases, such as Ebola and Swine Flu.
The big question is: Where are Google's earbuds and why have they still not been brought to market during the biggest health disaster in recent memory? One might guess that Google has given a similar treatment to the earbuds as it has to its previous projects, Google Fiber and Google Glass, but recent activity suggests that Google is still pursuing the project. A continuation of the '162 patent, U.S. Patent Pub. No. 20180256106, was filed shortly before the '162 patent issued in 2018 and Google continued prosecution of the application with a response as recent as September of 2020. The application appears to be directed more toward finding a person's actual temperature with the earbuds, rather than just a difference between temperatures taken at different times. This suggests that Google may simply be refining the product before it is able to be publicly released.
The Google patent stands out among recent documents in the diagnosis subcategory of the pandemics sector. Recent patents and applications in the subcategory have largely been focused on using contact tracing for diagnostic purposes or providing new laboratory methods of analyzing the fluids (such as spit) of a patient. Even for recent documents claiming a wearable device, the focus of the device has largely been as a location tracker in order to use contact tracing for monitoring the spread of the virus. Despite Google's position as a frontrunner and trendsetter for a variety of technological sectors, the diagnostics subcategory has yet to see a burst of consumer hardware integrated with diagnostic technology, with much of the consumer diagnostics market still being focused on mobile phone-integrated software applications. Only time will tell, but Magic Number will continue to provide updates on all integrations of the consumer retail market with global health solutions.
For more updates on the creative solutions for the COVID-19 pandemic, check out the free interactive visual Pandemics Patent Forecast® offered by Magic Number.
