It seems like Google Pixel smartphones will be able to check your heart rate in the future, by using their cameras. The company is adding heart and respiratory rate monitors to its Fit app on Pixel phones.
Google Pixel phones will get this camera heart rate feature first, but more devices will follow
This update is coming at some point this month, in case you’re wondering. Those of you who don’t have a Pixel, don’t fret, as the feature will roll out to more Android smartphones in the future. The thing is, it’s not known when exactly.
Both of these features will rely on the phone’s camera. In the case of the heart rate, it will track color change as blood moves through the fingertip. When it comes to respiratory rate, it will monitor the rise and fall of someone’s check, also through the camera.
The Verge notes that these features are only intended for you to track overall wellness, they cannot evaluate or diagnose medical conditions.
Now, in order to be able to measure respiratory rate using the app, you’ll need to point the phone’s front-facing camera to your head and chest. In terms of heart rate, you’ll need to use the rear-facing camera, and place your finger over it.
Do note that the readings for heart rate data will be less comprehensive than what you’d get from a wearable device. It can become a useful feature, just to keep things in check.
Adding these features to Google Fit will make them available to a lot of people
Adding these features to the Google Fit, and enabling them on phones will give access to tons of people. Even people who don’t have wearable devices will be able to keep track of things.
Jiening Zhan, a technical lead at Google Health, said that there’s a reason they’ll come to Pixels first. He said that the company wants to study how well the features work, before pushing them out to more devices.
The company did not mention any specific Pixel phones, but the latest-gen models will all be included, that’s for sure. It remains to be seen about previous-gen models, but we’re presuming many of them will as well.