Future Google Pixel Watch could warn you when you’ve had too much screen time

Over the years, Google’s Pixel Watch hasn't seemed to change all that much between iterations. So the idea of a fresh release having a camera built in feels a tad unrealistic. Plus, it’s never felt like it needed one.

However, a new Fitbit patent has appeared on the US Patent Office website showing a clever way a camera could be used on a future Google smartwatch, and most interestingly, it wouldn't take or store any photos at all.

Spotted by Gadgetsandwearables, the idea - it seems - is to track your exposure to blue light, the kind of harsh, cool-toned light that can mess with sleep when you’re surrounded by bright screens and LEDs late at night.

A camera that isn’t for photos

The patent describes using a watch camera to briefly “sample” the light around you, before immediately binning the image. Instead of capturing anything you could view later, the watch would rely on numbers the camera already calculates behind the scenes, like automatic white balance data.

Basically, it seems the camera would be there to document your day. It's more about quickly working out whether the room you’re in is heavy on blue light, and then turn that into a health-style metric. The watch could then flag when your exposure is above average, or give you a gentle nudge if you’re still sitting under bright lighting late in the evening.

It’s a clever bit of recycling, really. You’d be using signals the camera already generates, without adding extra sensors, and without creating a privacy headache where your watch is secretly snapping pictures.

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More like Pixel Watch than Fitbit?

Fitbit’s hardware has been drifting towards slimmer, simpler trackers, where battery life and comfort are king. Adding a camera, even a tiny one, doesn’t exactly match that vibe.

Pixel Watch, though, is already positioned as the “smart” option in the family, and it’s the more natural place for experimental features that blend health tracking with contextual awareness. If Google ever did put a camera on a watch, my guessign are it would almost certainly be sold as an ambient sensor first, with anything else being secondary.

Of course, this is still just a patent, and patents are basically a window into what a company might try one day and definitely not a strong rumour as to what’s coming next.

Still, it adds to the growing pile of Pixel Watch chatter lately, especially after a separate leak recently suggested Google is also working on “left behind” alerts that could warn you if you walk away from your phone, and potentially auto-lock it, too.

Again, nothing confirmed here yet but if Google does ship it, it’ll be a very welcome move.