Pixels measure your heart rate and breathing with the camera

Google is adding two new features for its Pixel devices this month. These will allow users to measure heart rate and respiration, according to The Verge.

Both functions rely on the device’s camera. When measuring the respiratory rate, the smartphone uses a front camera to observe the movement of the user’s chest. The heart rate, in turn, is measured by the rear camera to monitor the change in color of the blood as it passes through the fingertips.

“The doctor determines the patient’s respiratory rate by monitoring the rise and fall of the chest, and the new feature mimics this procedure,” said Jack Po, product manager for Google Health.

An affordable way to check your health easily and regularly

The purpose of this feature is to allow users to track their overall health and the feature is not intended to diagnose health problems. Also, the data that the new feature will record will be less accurate than the data from the wearable device.

However, according to Google, the feature is a useful tool. Under normal circumstances, you only measure your heart rate when you see a doctor. This way you can check it regularly and detect any problems sooner.

“If users measured their heart rate once a week and not once a year, they would get really great value,” said Po.

Google has decided to integrate these features into the smartphone so that they are available to as many people as possible. Google also plans to add this feature to other Android devices in the future.

The degree of accuracy is very high

Internal studies on Pixel phones have shown that the respiratory rate measurement function was accurate to one breath per minute, both in healthy people and in people with health problems. The heart rate measurement function, in turn, was 98% accurate.

Both features have been tested on people with different skin tones and, according to Google, had almost the same degree of accuracy in both light and dark skin. The company plans to publish a scientific paper on this topic.

The heart rate monitor function is similar to the function that Samsung once added to its flagships. Xiaomi added the same feature to its smartphones last year.