Apple had filed for and was granted a patent for a sports monitoring system for earbuds, headphones, and headsets.

Here’s an excerpt from the patent abstract;

The monitoring system can, for example, be used to monitor user activity, such as during exercise or sporting activities. The positioning of the monitoring system can also facilitate sensing of other user characteristics (e.g., biometric data), such as temperature, perspiration and heart rate. The monitoring system can also be used to control a an electronic device. In one embodiment, the monitoring system facilitates user control of the electronic device using head gestures.

The story was first reported by Mikey Campbell of Apple Insider.

[Image courtesy: Apple/USPTO]