ReutersFeb 05, 2021 12:16:48 AM IS
From Paresh Dave
(Reuters) – Cameras on Google Pixel smartphones will be able to measure heart and breathing rates from next month. This is one of the earliest uses of Alphabet Inc.’s artificial intelligence in its wellness services.
Health programs that have been available for years on the Google Play Store and Apple Inc.’s App Store offer the same functionality. However, a 2017 study found that accuracy was variable and adoption of the apps remains low.
Google Health officials told reporters earlier this week that they had developed the AI for the measurements and plan to describe their method and clinical study in a scientific article in the coming weeks. The company believes the feature will be available on other Android smartphones at an unspecified time, it said in a blog post on Thursday, but plans for iPhones are unclear.
Apple’s Watch, Google’s Fitbit, and other wearables have vastly expanded the reach of continuous heart rate monitoring technologies to a much larger population.
The smartphone camera approach is more of an ad hoc – users wanting to take a pulse put their finger over the lens, capturing subtle color changes that correspond to blood flow. Breathing is calculated from the video of the movements of the upper body.
Jack Po, Google Health’s product manager, said the company wanted to offer an alternative to manual pulse checks for smartphone owners who only want to monitor their condition occasionally but cannot afford a wearable.
Po said the technology, which can confuse heart rates by about 2%, requires further testing before it can be used in medical settings.
The new feature will be available as an update to the Google Fit app.
Google consolidated its health services about two years ago to better compete with Apple, Samsung Electronics Co, and other mobile technology companies that have invested heavily in wellness marketing.
(Reporting by Paresh Dave; Editing by Sam Holmes)
This story was not edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by automatic feed.
