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Amazon wants to use radar sensors to enable sleep tracking and gestures on its smart devices, according to new permissions granted by the Federal Communications Commission (via Bloomberg). The implementation could be similar to how Google uses its Soli sensor in the second-gen Nest Hub.
Amazon’s initial request to the FCC filed on June 22 (and unearthed by SlashGear) states that its intended use of radar would allow “non-contact control of the features and functions of the device without causing harmful interference to co-frequency users”, which could be useful to users with reduced mobility or with impaired hearing. the speech. The company also says the new sensors can be used for “sleep tracking and could help improve consumer awareness and their management of sleep hygiene.”
Rumors first surfaced that Amazon was building a palm-sized Alexa sleep tracker in January, with a particular focus on tracking the breathing of users with sleep apnea. The company also already digests and displays sleep data for anyone who uses their Halo strip (the one with the precise but problematic body scan feature). Amazon has extended the capabilities of the Halo app with a new Flexibility Analysis Motion Health feature that was released last week.
Amazon’s request doesn’t specify what an actual product might look like with these new radar sensors, but adding them to future Echo devices doesn’t seem like a big deal, given how comfortable they are on bedside tables. In its Nest Hub, Google’s Soli radar sensors track sleep movements and breathing in concert with microphones and a built-in temperature sensor. Buying means allowing Google, and maybe Amazon someday, to watch you all night long, but in a less invasive way than a camera feed or a bracelet.
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