Most wireless headphones sold in the Spanish market already come with ANC; Noise reduction technology to isolate the user so they can enjoy their favorite music at its best. A few days ago Google shared details about the new research it allows Add heart rate detection For active noise canceling headphones.
Excellent in this research Audioplethysmography (APG) is where this change is made With a simple software update. That is, it is simply downloaded and headphones with ANC can measure the person’s heart rate.
The tech giant maintains that the ear canal is a Good place for health checkup, the deep auricular artery forms a complex network of small vessels that penetrate widely into the ear canal. This audioplethysmography works by sending low-frequency ultrasound signals through the speakers of ANC headphones.
How does it work?
This signal causes echoes, which are picked up by headset microphones Simple displacement of the skin of the ear canal And the vibrations of the heartbeat modulate the ultrasound echoes. This is where the model developed by Google comes in to implement this concept with heart rate measurements and its ability to measure variability (HRV or heart rate variability).
This technique Also works with music playback and the looseness that occurs when headphones’ ear pads don’t fit properly inside the ear shell. Of course, the data it collects changes with the movement of the body and here the tech giant uses a multi-tone approach that acts as a calibration tool.
Image from a study by Google
Google to confirm the validity of this research conducted two studies of 153 people. Audioplethysmography consistently achieves the most accurate measurements of heart rate and variability (average error of 3.21% across participants in functional contexts and average of 2.70% across heart rate intervals).
The interesting thing about this invention is that unlike current heart rate sensors, the Measurements are not corrupted by skin tone. The size of the ear canal and the tightness of the ear cushion had no negative effect on the measurements taken. In fact, Google believes this is a better solution than integrating conventional sensors such as PPG (photoplethysmograms) and ECG (electrocardiograms) into headphones.
A picture of Google’s practices
Google’s results, read on From your websiteThis technology replaces (APG) TWS ANC headphones Among smarts measuring heart rate With a software update, react strongly against any user activity while wearing them.
Apart from being a technique that opens up new avenues for biomedicine and mobile research, it also opens up new possibilities As a low cost healthcare solution. Of course, it remains to be seen whether this innovation is the result of collaborative work by the Google Health, legal, product, and user experience teams. 9to5GoogleFor Pixel Buds, the headphones of the tech giant present in the Spanish market.
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