Introduction
As per business insider reports, Amazon is looking forward to developing a new Alexa powered device that can track and monitor symptoms of sleep apnea by using radar. The device can be of palm-size which can perfectly sit on the bedside table. And Supposed to detect symptoms associated with the apnea sleeping disorder.
The amount of oxygen in your blood or at least a dip in the oxygen level of your blood while you’re sleeping can be used for detecting Sleep Apnea. Which causes you to snore loud for getting that extra air. These interruptions in breathing can be detected by the millimeter-wave radar. For which Amazon is planning according to some sources.
We all know that Amazon is not the only company that is developing these kinds of sleep trackers. Previously also other companies have made attempts towards this project.
Here are some interesting details that you need to know about Amazon Alexa Sleep Tracker using radar:
Amazon’s project apparently working under the code name “Brahms”
As per Business insider news, Amazon’s project Brahms is the work of the amazon internal team built up over the past year. The device may consist of a “standing hexagonal pad connected to a metal wire base”
Along with Sleep Apnea, Amazon is planning to introduce machine learning and Cloud technology. For enhancing device capabilities further in understanding other sleep disorders beyond sleep apnea.
Amazon didn’t respond and didn’t give any details about the project’s existence to Business Insider.
If rumors are accurate then Brahms is Amazon’s latest push into health technology. Last year the company released its Halo fitness tracker. That can scan the user’s body to create a 3D scan of the wearer’s body fat. And also it can also monitor the user’s voice. And it can track sleep time and heart rate.
In 2014 Nintendo announced a non-wearable sleep tracker:
Back in 2014 Nintendo CEO Satoru Iwata, announced that Nintendo was going to introduce a non-wearable device. Which can track sleep using radio waves. Radio waves will monitor the nighttime activity of the user.
THE company CEO further added on the idea of a “Non-wearable Sleep tracker” device. That it won’t require you to wear, operate, and installation effort from the user side. From a simple drawing on a presentation slide, The device, designed to place it on the bedside table.
Unfortunately, two years later Nintendo said that ” it wasn’t confident that the device could become a viable product. And it never released.
Recently we have seen Oneplus is working on a new concept phone that used mmWave radar to monitor breathing.
Benefits of using impulse-radio ultra-wideband radar in Amazon Alexa for Diagnosis of sleep apnea
sleep apnea is mainly associated with depression and neuropsychological effects in the brain. To overcome this problem recently impulse radio ultra-wideband (IR-UWB) radar sensors are developed.
These sensors can monitor and measure body movements. By sending and receiving an impulse signal from wide bandwidth on the frequency domain. Thus sensors can identify targets without contact.
This Radar sensor uses high carrier frequency. Which gives advantages like high resolution, good penetration, and small hardware size.
Thus, without touching the body the sensor can track not only large movements but also small movements like breathing. The radar uses an impulse signal that is very low power. Also, it is not harmful to the human body.
Therefore IR-UWB radar may be used for detecting sleep apnea and other sleep disorders.
Conclusion:
As per a Business Insider, Amazon is developing an Alexa powered device. That can use radar for detecting sleep apnea. If the reports are accurate we can expect a non-wearable sleep tracker with Alexa that can stand on your bedside table soon.
