MIT invents smartphone that checks your heartbeat from across the room

Usually, most people often use fitness trackers that comes in form of wrist band. Many people don't feel comfortable wearing such devices.

A much better method has been provided. Researchers say that heart rate, breathing and other physiological measurements can
be taken from a smartphone that sits in your bag or pocket -- without even touching your body.

The smartphone is named BioPhone and it was developed by researchers at MIT. They claim that it can "capture the small movements of your body that result from the beating of your heart".

BioPhone can pick up tiny vibrations from the body, even when you are not moving.This could, they say, lead to better monitoring of things like stress level and culminate in a phone notification telling you to try breathing exercises or to call a loved one.

Researchers tested the credibility of BioPhone by asking participants to stand, sit and lie down with a smartphone in their pocket. The data gathered from the smartphones were extremely similar, and in many instances the same, as medicaly approved heart and breathing-rate sensors.

Phone sensors are still unable to measure data when the phone is in a different spot, such as in the back pocket of a pair of jeans. The further away the device is from the heart, the harder it is for it to accurately track your vital signs.

The work is partner of a larger project by the MIT Media Lab to develop technology that can help users track stress levels in a comfortable way.