Cardiio App Uses MIT Technology To Detect Heartbeat Rate Using Smartphone's Camera

Fitness enthusiasts wear heart rate monitors in order to check their resting heart rate to determine the strength of their heart. But Cardiio is a new app which can do the same thing without the use of any hardware. It has been developed based on a research conducted at the MIT Media Lab. The principle involved behind this technology is that - with every heart beat, blood vessels in your face expand, and this increase in blood volume absorbs more light which in turn reduces the amount of light reflected from your face. When you point the front camera of your iOS device at your face, the software measures the light being reflected from your face and by using certain complex algorithms the app calculates your heart rate.

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According to the studies conducted by the company, this heart rate monitor can measure heart rate with an accuracy of ±3 BPM.  The additional features include generating daily, monthly and weekly reports of your heart rate, determining the fitness level of the user, estimating the life expectancy and comparing your heart rate with others. The app is compatible with iPhone 4, iPhone 4S, iPod touch (4th generation), iPad 2 & the 3^rd generation iPad. It requires iOS 5.0 or higher and costs 4.99 US dollars.

Source: Cardiio for the iPhone uses the front-facing cam to measure your heart rate - PhoneArena Via: #-Link-Snipped-#