Google is soon adding exciting new features to its Fit app for its Pixel smartphones. You will be able to measure your heart rate by placing a finger on the rear camera, which reminds us of a fad from many years ago in the Android world.
It works by tracking the change in color as the blood passes through your fingertip. On the other hand, measuring your respiratory rate works with the selfie camera, where you position yourself in a frame and then just breathe.
The software will monitor the rise and fall of your chest and deduce the rate. A Google Health product manager explains that doctors count a patient’s respiratory rate the same way, and the company’s machine learning technique used here attempts to mimic that.
“A lot of people, especially in the lower economic classes right now, don’t have things like wearable devices, but would still benefit from the ability to track their breathing rate, heart rate, etc.,” the said. PM of Google. .
According to internal Google studies, the respiratory rate function is accurate to one breath per minute, for people with and without medical conditions. Heart rate readings were accurate to less than 2%. The features were tested on people with a range of skin tones and had similar accuracy.
These could come to non-Pixel phones in the future, but Google wants to study how they work on other devices first.
Source
