Google's Pixel Watch 3 Introduces FDA-Approved AI-Powered Loss of Pulse Detection Feature

Google just gave Pixel Watch its most important update yet - and it's free to use

The Pixel Watch 3 is getting a first-of-its-kind, potentially life-saving feature. In a blog post, Google announced that it had received FDA clearance for its Loss of Pulse Detection feature. Also: My new favorite Android smartwatch outperforms Google and Samsung in a crucial way The feature works by tracking your heartbeat. If your heart stops beating -- due to cardiac arrest, respiratory or circulatory failure, overdose, or poisoning -- your watch will automatically turn on more accurate infrared LEDs and look for motion data. If the watch determines you're not responsive, it will start a countdown and audio alarm. If you still don't respond, the watch will place a call to emergency services using your LTE or phone connection, inform them that you don't have a pulse, and share your location. Google says the watch will be able to tell the difference between an actual cardiac event and the user simply removing the watch. Safety features like fall detection and crash detection aren't new, but they aren't at the level of this one (which is why it needed FDA clearance first). Other watches have heartbeat tracking, but they track much less frequently than the Pixel 3. The Apple Watch, for example, tracks heart rate every 3 to 7 minutes by default. Speaking to The Verge in August, Sandeep Waraich, senior director of product management for Pixel wearables, explained that pulse detection is a combination of pulse, heartbeat, contact with skin, and "a bunch of other things like motion." Also: The best Android smartwatches To develop the feature, Google worked with cardiologists to learn what a loss of pulse looks like on watch insights. That data was used to build an AI algorithm that was then tested using hundreds of thousands of hours of real-life user data from a diverse group of people. Google then used stunt actors wearing tourniquets that would artificially create a lack of pulse and simulated the types of falls that would mimic a person suddenly losing their pulse. Pulse detection should be available in the US by the end of March and will arrive via an update.

Your Google Pixel Watch 3 is about to get a life-saving update - for free

The Pixel Watch 3 is getting a first-of-its-kind, potentially life-saving feature. Also: My new favorite Android smartwatch outperforms Google and Samsung in a crucial way In a blog post today, Google announced that it had received FDA clearance for its Loss of Pulse Detection feature. The feature works by tracking your heartbeat. If your heart stops beating -- due to cardiac arrest, respiratory or circulatory failure, overdose, or poisoning -- your watch will automatically turn on more accurate infrared LEDs and look for motion data. If the watch determines you're not responsive, it will start a countdown and audio alarm. If you still don't respond, the watch will place a call to emergency services using your LTE or phone connection, inform them that you don't have a pulse, and share your location. Also: The best Android smartwatches Google says the watch will be able to tell the difference between an actual cardiac event and the user simply removing the watch. Safety features like fall detection and crash detection aren't new, but they aren't at the level of this one (which is why it needed FDA clearance first). Other watches have heartbeat tracking, but they track much less frequently than the Pixel 3. The Apple Watch, for example, tracks heart rate every 3 to 7 minutes by default. Speaking to The Verge in August, Sandeep Waraich, senior director of product management for Pixel wearables, explained that pulse detection is a combination of pulse, heartbeat, contact with skin, and "a bunch of other things like motion." Also: 5 reasons why I'm glad I upgraded to the Pixel Watch 3 To develop the feature, Google worked with cardiologists to learn what a loss of pulse looks like on watch insights. That data was used to build an AI algorithm that was then tested using hundreds of thousands of hours of real-life user data from a diverse group of people. Google then used stunt actors wearing tourniquets that would artificially create a lack of pulse and simulated the types of falls that would mimic a person suddenly losing their pulse. Pulse detection should be available in the US by the end of March and will arrive via an update.

Google's Pixel Watch is about to get a life-saving feature that Apple Watch doesn't have

The Pixel Watch 3 is getting a first-of-its-kind, potentially life-saving feature. Also: My new favorite Android smartwatch outperforms Google and Samsung in a crucial way In a blog post, Google announced that it had received FDA clearance for its Loss of Pulse Detection feature. The feature works by tracking your heartbeat. If your heart stops beating -- due to cardiac arrest, respiratory or circulatory failure, overdose, or poisoning -- your watch will automatically turn on more accurate infrared LEDs and look for motion data. If the watch determines you're not responsive, it will start a countdown and audio alarm. If you still don't respond, the watch will place a call to emergency services using your LTE or phone connection, inform them that you don't have a pulse, and share your location. Also: The best Android smartwatches Google says the watch will be able to tell the difference between an actual cardiac event and the user simply removing the watch. Safety features like fall detection and crash detection aren't new, but they aren't at the level of this one (which is why it needed FDA clearance first). Other watches have heartbeat tracking, but they track much less frequently than the Pixel 3. The Apple Watch, for example, tracks heart rate every 3 to 7 minutes by default. Speaking to The Verge in August, Sandeep Waraich, senior director of product management for Pixel wearables, explained that pulse detection is a combination of pulse, heartbeat, contact with skin, and "a bunch of other things like motion." Also: 5 reasons why I'm glad I upgraded to the Pixel Watch 3 To develop the feature, Google worked with cardiologists to learn what a loss of pulse looks like on watch insights. That data was used to build an AI algorithm that was then tested using hundreds of thousands of hours of real-life user data from a diverse group of people. Google then used stunt actors wearing tourniquets that would artificially create a lack of pulse and simulated the types of falls that would mimic a person suddenly losing their pulse. Pulse detection should be available in the US by the end of March and will arrive via an update.

FDA Approves 'Loss of Pulse Detection' Feature for Google Pixel Watch 3

Google has received FDA approval for an AI-powered loss of pulse detection feature on the Pixel Watch 3, allowing the smartwatch to detect when its owner's heart stops beating. "This first-of-its-kind feature can detect when you've experienced a loss of pulse (your heart stops beating from an event like primary cardiac arrest, respiratory or circulatory failure, overdose or poisoning) and automatically prompt a call to emergency services for potentially life-saving care if you're unresponsive," Google says. The US joins 14 other countries in allowing the feature. Google intends to roll it out to US owners by the end of March. Find it under the watch's Safety & emergency settings. Per Google, loss of pulse detection uses the watch's existing heart rate sensor -- the blinking green light on the bottom of the watch -- along with an AI algorithm that processes the data. Once it detects a loss of pulse, it will make a good-faith effort to alert the user to ensure that it isn't a false alarm. If the watch detects no motion and the watch owner doesn't respond, the watch will automatically dial emergency services to request aid. The CDC says that 356,000 people suffer from out-of-hospital cardiac arrest every year, and approximately 60% to 80% of them don't make it to the hospital. Cardiac arrest can be caused by any number of conditions and the CDC also points out that cardiac arrest is not the same thing as a heart attack. Loss of pulse detection joins a growing list of medical-focused features on the Pixel Watch series, including crash detection that calls the authorities after it detects a traffic accident, along with metrics like skin temperature and an ECG function. Many of those features are also available on the Pixel Watch 2, making the loss of pulse detection feature one of the reasons to opt for the newer Pixel Watch 3.