People are keeping closer track on their bodies, but this typically requires a bunch of gear and time to use it. Want to take your blood pressure? Sit down with a pressure cuff and take a reading. Want to measure your weight and body fat? Step on a smart scale. Or maybe all you need is your smartphone or tablet.
That’s the vision of Advanced Human Imaging (AHI): to make it fast and easy for people to take biometric measurements in their own home. They have developed technology to make a wide range of biometric measures just using a smartphone. They don’t make any products; instead, they license the technology to partners who then make it available to consumers in end products and services. To date, they work with more than 17 clients, serving more than 4 million users. AHI produces a series of software development kits (SDKs) that allow clients to add the AHI technology to their products. AHI views the end result as “measurement as a service.”
FaceScan is one of their services. In 30 seconds, the system analyzes blood flow from a live video of the user’s face. The system measures heart rate, blood pressure, and respiratory rate with 96% accuracy or better, From this data, the system can identify irregular heart beats, heart rate variability, cardiac workload, and stress levels. It can provide an assessment of risk for stroke, heart attack, or other cardiovascular disease.
Another system is BodyScan, which takes two still images of the user’s body: one from the front and one from the side. From this data, it calculates the circumference of chest, waist, hips, and thighs, and calculates a body fat percentage. It can even construct a 3D image of the user’s body. It provides health risk assessments for obesity and Type 2 diabetes. The measurements have an accuracy and repeatability rate of about 98%, and take just one minute.
The sophisticated image processing makes it easy for users to quickly make useful measurements without the need for expensive equipment or a trip to the doctor’s office. Equipped with better information about our bodies, we will be able to make better decisions about our health and lifestyle.
