Fujitsu Technologies has unveiled new camera software that can detect a person’s heart rate and can be installed in a computer, smartphone or tablet.
This is part of the company’s continued development of biometric tracking technology.
Fujitsu says the camera detects a person’s heart rate by recording someone’s face and detecting subtle changes in the oxygen carrying properties of blood which absorb green light.
Apart from detecting the pulse rate, which can take as little as five seconds, the camera’s software can further calculate colour values on a face, filter excess light and extract data from hemoglobin.
“Even at a busy workplace, or any time a person is sitting in front of a PC, whether for teleconferencing or writing e-mails, their pulse can be measured during brief moments of quiet,” said Fujitsu in a press release.
The revolutionary technology once finalised will be used to track and archive health data for future analysis.
The company further says that it is still carrying out tests to measure the accuracy as it explores ways in which the software can detect the pulse rate real time with the probability of being released to the public in 2013.
This however is not the first such technology of its kind as a similar software is available on the iPhone. Cardiio, a creation of MIT media lab, is however known to be accurate within well lit environments and within 3bpm.
Cardiio makers said: “Every time your heart beats, more blood is pumped into your face. This slight increase in blood volume causes more light to be absorbed, and hence less light is reflected from your face.
“Using sophisticated software, your iPhone’s front camera can track these tiny changes in reflected light that are not visible to the human eye and calculate your heart bea
