Google Health includes the various teams at Google that work to help people lead their “healthiest lives.” With the latest effort, you can measure your heart rate and breathing rate using the Google Fit app and cameras on an Android phone.
To measure the number of breaths per minute, Google Fit uses the front camera of your Android device. The phone should lean on a ‘stable surface so that you can see yourself comfortably from the waist down.’ It should have a clear, unobstructed view of your head and torso.
Users are then brought to a full-screen user interface with a live feed indicating your face and chest, while the instructions above say you should breathe normally and ‘keep quiet’ as a circle indicator notes. Once completed, ‘Your Results’ will appear on the next screen, with the newly updated Google Fit Home stream with a new map showing the average RPM over the past week. With a ‘plus’ button in the top right corner, you can start another session.
Google measures your breathing rate by detecting small changes on your chest. The company is making advances in computer vision that make it possible to ‘detect small physical signals at the pixel level’.
Meanwhile, measuring your heart rate involves placing your finger on the rear camera lens and applying light pressure. Flash is not required, but it can be enabled to increase accuracy in dark environments. After completion, users have to manually decide whether to save the vital in Fit. Both of these measurements take 30 seconds, and users are advised to wait a few minutes after doing something active. No one needs an internet connection to work.
Google monitors the “subtle changes in the color of your fingers” to approximate blood flow. The heart rate algorithms take into account lighting, skin color, age and other factors. The Fit app explicitly tells users that:
“These results are not intended for medical purposes and should not be used to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease or medical condition.”
That said, Google suggests Fit’s camera-assisted measurements as a useful way to track and improve daily well-being. The company has completed initial clinical studies to validate these features. It will launch next month with Pixel owners installing the Fit app. Google plans to bring these features to other Android devices in the future.
The announcement comes before a Google Health event – called “The Checkup” – which starts in an hour. This measurement feature of Google Fit is one of the most important developments of the group after the launch of the Google Health Studies app late last year.
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