Researchers develop system for smart speakers like Amazon Echo to monitor heartbeats

You might soon have a new use for your Amazon Echo, Google Home or other smart speaker: checking your heart for irregular rhythms. Researchers at the University of Washington have developed an artificial intelligence system using smart speakers to monitor your heartbeat without requiring physical contact. Their findings were published in the peer-reviewed journal Communications Biology. The study had people sit 1 to 2 feet from a smart speaker, which starts playing an inaudible continuous sound. The sound then bounces off the person and back to the speaker, where the AI system is able to detect individual heartbeats.