Cardiocam mirror displays heart rate

The next time you stand in front of your mirror at home, take a closer look at all the lines on your face, instead of concentrating only on whether your tie is properly put on or not. Do you think that the crow’s feet that appear out of nowhere are a surefire indication that you’re getting on in your age? If that’s the case, it might be better to go over your lifestyle habits, ranging from exercise regimes to food intake in order to make sure your heart’s in tip top condition. The future might offer an easier way to know just how your heart is doing each morning as the Cardiocam mirror will display your lowest resting heart rate each time you stand in front of it.

This reflective device that debuted at the SIGGRAPH interactive technology conference, is smart enough to take measurements of your heart rate, showing it off on the display itself so that you can see whether you’re improving or not. Designed by students at the MIT Media Lab, it will rely on a webcam to record the minute changes in skin tone that happens each time facial capillaries fill and empty with each beat of that muscle you call the heart. The computer in the Cardiocam will then analyze your facial color change, where it will draw up your current heart rate right on the mirror itself. With time, the Cardiocam mirror is able to establish a baseline resting heart rate, letting you monitor changes in your cardiac health.

Sure beats strapping yourself to a device, no? I wonder what kind of webcam it will utilize, and will Logitech play a role here? Hopefully the future version of the Cardiocam mirror might offer more than just your heart rate reading.

Edwin Kee
Categories: Gadgets, Home, Medical
Tags: heart rate, heart rate monitor, mirror