Few things are as important as heart rate while exercising. Staying within a target heart rate can help determine how well your body performs. With that in mind, researchers at the University of Virginia have developed an app-based system capable of controlling your heartrate through strategically selected songs.
According to New Scientist, the app is the crux of the system, but it also uses a pair of earbuds with integrated microphones which listen to the body’s heartrate:
A team of researchers led by Shahriar Nirjon at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville embedded a microphone into a set of headphones that listens to the throb of arteries in your ear. That data, as well as activity levels gathered using an accelerometer, is sent over the internet to a recommendation engine which chooses the next song based on the user’s current and desired heart rate.
What’s more, is that the system can take in environmental factors — temperature, weather, etc — to help determine the best song to help direct your heart rate in one direction or another. If it wasn’t already, working out has now become prime nerd territory. [New Scientist]