 |
| Pixel can read your heart rate with the camera |
Google will add heart rate and breathing monitoring to the Fit app on Pixel phones this month and plans to add it to other Android phones in the future.
Both functions rely on the smartphone's camera, which measures the breathing rate by monitoring the rise and fall of the user's chest, and tracks the heart rate by tracking the change in blood color during the procedure. It moves at your fingertips.
The company said: These features only allow users to track general health conditions and not evaluate or diagnose medical conditions.
To use the app to measure respiratory rate (the number of times a person breathes per minute), the user points the front camera of the phone towards the head and chest. To measure your heart rate, place your finger on the back camera.
At the press conference, Google Health product manager (Jack Poe) said: Doctors calculate a patient's breathing rate based on the patient's chest height and drop. Google's feature uses machine learning technology to simulate this process.
Google Heart Rate Monitor is similar to the Samsung features of many old Galaxy smartphones, including the Galaxy S10, but removes the features of the S10E, S20 and later phones.
Heart rate data in the Google app is not as comprehensive as the types of readings people get from wearables that can be used to continuously monitor their heart rate in people's daily lives.
Poe said the ability to check how these indicators work when needed is always a helpful tool, and anything that increases the frequency of heart rhythm or respiratory rate is vital.
Google decided to create these features in smartphones so that as many people as possible can use them, as not many people currently have features like wearables. However, you will benefit from being able to track your breathing rate, heart rate, etc.
Internal research on Pixel phones shows that regardless of health status, the person's breathing rate function is accurate to 1 breath per minute, while the heart rate function is accurate to 2%.
The team looked at how these features might work on other phones before they could be used outside of Pixel. These functions will now be described as tools that can be used in public health.
Google does not claim to be able to perform medical functions, so adding it to the app does not require FDA approval.