University of Washington smart speaker researcher
Lead author Anran Wang sits with the smart speaker prototype (white box in foreground) the team used for the study. (Image by Mark Stone, University of Washington)

Hey Alexa, how’s my heart rate?

Researchers at the University of Washington say they’ve devised a way to enable smart speakers to work as contact-free heart-rate monitors.

Their proof-of-concept uses algorithms that transform the smart speaker into a short-range active sonar system and measure heart rate and inter-beat intervals (R-R intervals) for both regular and irregular rhythms, according to a study published in Nature Communications Biology.

Get the full story on our sister site, Medical Design & Outsourcing.