Fujitsu smartphone can take your pulse
![A Fujitsu engineer demonstrates how a smartphone that can take the pulse of a user just by looking at his or her face works, at the company's headquarters in Tokyo, on March 18, 2013. Fujitsu plans to put the invention to practical use within a year, enabling people at work or at home to track their health and collect data for analysis without wearing special devices. A Fujitsu engineer demonstrates how a smartphone that can take the pulse of a user works, on March 18, 2013](https://scx1.b-cdn.net/csz/news/800a/2013/afujitsuengi.jpg)
A smartphone that can take the pulse of a user just by looking at his or her face has been unveiled in Japan.
Technology giant Fujitsu plans to put the invention to practical use within a year, enabling people at work or at home to track their health and collect data for analysis without wearing special devices.
The smartphone works by measuring variations in the brightness of a person's face caused by the flow of blood.
![Health support services based on human-centric computing Fujitsu smartphone can take your pulse](https://scx1.b-cdn.net/csz/news/800a/2013/fujitsusmart.jpg)
Researchers say countless tiny blood vessels run through the face, enabling monitoring of haemoglobin which absorbs green light. Haemoglobin is a protein found in red blood cells that contains iron and transports oxygen.
Simply pointing a camera at a person's face for as little as five seconds will enable pulse-taking, while the technology automatically filters out the effect of head movements or changes caused by standing up quickly.
![An illustration of pulse changes along with staple activities recorded over the course of one day Fujitsu smartphone can take your pulse](https://scx1.b-cdn.net/csz/news/800a/2013/1-fujitsusmart.jpg)
"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," the company said in a press release.
"At home, a camera built into a TV can measure the pulse of people relaxing in front of it, or a mirror, for when people are getting ready in the morning," it said.
"Pulse detectors built into gates at event sites or control points at airports could be a possible security application by detecting people in ill health and people acting suspiciously."
More information: www.fujitsu.com/global/news/pr … 013/20130318-01.html
(c) 2013 AFP