New research shows this can be done through ultrasound
In a recent post on its Research blog, Google reveals it has discovered a way to detect a person’s heart rate through ANC (active noise canceling) earbuds.
The method is called Audioplethysmography (say that three times fast), or APG for short. The way it works, according to the tech giant, is the ANC earbuds send out a “low-intensity ultrasound probing signal through” the speakers. The signal then bounces around in the ear canal, sending the echo back to be received by the “on-board feedback microphones.” The echoes are influenced by “tiny ear canal skin displacement and heartbeat vibrations”.
The company was able to detect both the heart rate within the feedback signal as well as the heart rate variability. They could tell if the heart was beating fast or slow. Google explains in its post that the ear canal is “an ideal location for health sensing” thanks to all of the blood vessels closely permeating throughout that part of the body.Surprisingly accurate
As part of its research, Google performed two rounds of studies with 153 participants in total.
