According to a Google announcement , starting in March, Google Fit will allow users to measure their heart and breathing rates using their phone's camera
The feature will be available in the Google Fit app initially for Pixel, and will then be available on more Android.
Users who wish to measure their breathing rate simply need to place their head and upper torso in front of the phone's camera. To measure their heart rate, users place their finger on the rear camera lens.
Once the measurements are taken, users have the option to save them to the app to track their health status.
Google Health director Shwetak Patelexplained that these features rely on the sensors built into smartphones, such as the microphone, camera, and accelerometer.
“Thanks to increasingly powerful sensors and advances in computer vision, these capabilities allow you to use your smartphone camera to track tiny physical signals at the pixel level – like chest movements to measure breathing rate and subtle changes in the color of your fingers for heart rate,” he said.
In developing these features, Patel said clinical trials were conducted to validate the algorithm and they could be used “in a variety of real-world settings and for as many people as possible.”
"Since our heart rate algorithm is based on approximating blood flow from color changes at the tip of someone's finger, it must take into account factors like lighting, skin tone, age, and more to work for everyone," he said.
Earlier this year, the company officially completed its $2.1 billion acquisition of Fitbit. The move not only gives a boost to a potential Google smartwatch, but also gives Google ownership of the Fitbit business and a wealth of data.
