As part of Mobile Biometrics Month here at Mobile ID World we’re taking the opportunity to spotlight some of the more unique, experimental and creative ways to apply our favorite sensors. Vital biometrics offer a great opportunity for this, offering not just the classic fitness optimization features, but also allowing for authentication and new types of communication.
Vital biometrics have always been at home on wearable tech. Here are four different wearable gadgets that can turn your heartbeat into something new.
Heart Rate Headphones Can Maximize Your Workout
Might as well get the easy one out of the way first: wearable vital biometrics have long been aimed at consumers concerned with active living. With the proliferation of smartphones that can both play music and house fitness apps, the news space for workout maximization measurements is the ear.
LG, Jabra and SMS Audio all have their own version of heart rate headphones intended to help wearers stay motivated with music and keep track of the stats that matter while exercising.
Nymi Wristband Offers Persistent Authentication
Bionym, a biometrics company from Toronto, Ontario, uses vital signals to authenticate individuals. The company’s product, the Nymi wristband, takes advantage of the fact that everyone has a unique heartbeat. Users simply clasp Nymi to their wrists, activate it with the press of a finger and benefit from persistent strong authentication until the wristband is removed.
Using a proximity factor, Nymi can be used to unlock doors, grant access to connected devices like PCs and, according to the Bionym website, even potentially replace the PIN on your credit card.
Big Data and Vital Biometrics Help DJs Know Their Crowd
Lightwave is yet another biometric wristband being used for a novel purpose. Designed by world renowned iPad DJ Rana June, the wearable replaces the standard paper wristband handed out at electronic music events and gives artists actionable analytics, allowing for more intimate experiences.
With Lighwave, lights can be adjusted to the audience’s energy levels and conditional music cues can be set up too allowing a DJ to make her acolytes earn every base drop by making them dance for it.
Apple’s New Smartwatch Helps You Stay Closer To The People You Love
The newly announced Apple Watch can be used in active living and fitness applications, but it also boasts a unique, some might even say strange feature enabled by vital biometrics. Apple’s smartwatch allows users to share their heartbeats with one another.
Using the LED sensors to measure a user’s heart, Apple Watch can transmit the data to another user and send slight rhythmic vibrations and an animate emoji. The beats are received through the watch’s haptic engine, the same hardware that is used to alert wearers of notifications, and though the feature is mostly for novel sentiments (and maybe creeping out your friends), there is no denying that it’s a unique way to use mobile biometrics.
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