How Pixel Watch 5 can detect breathing emergencies
What's the story
Google has unveiled its latest smartwatch, the Pixel Watch 5, at the Made by Google event in New York City. The new device comes with a host of upgrades including a new processor and improved memory. However, the highlight of this launch is its innovative health feature: Health Guardian. The capability is designed to detect subtle changes in a user's health before they become serious problems.
Advanced monitoring
Health Guardian feature can detect breathing emergencies
The Health Guardian feature on the Pixel Watch 5 leverages multimodal sensors such as PPG, accelerometer, and barometer.
It also uses on-device AI to monitor users for 'severe, persistent drops in oxygen saturation.'
These drops can lead to serious conditions like pneumonia or choking.
If a breathing emergency is detected, the watch can automatically contact emergency services and share the user's location.
Health tracking
Monthly health summaries for chronic health trends
Along with the breathing emergency detection, Google is also bringing monthly health summaries for chronic health trends like blood pressure, sleep breathing quality, and insulin resistance.
The feature leverages Google's Health foundational models to detect subtle changes in cardiovascular, respiratory, and metabolic health.
The first detailed report will be generated after a month of wearing the watch.
Tech specs
Snapdragon W5 Gen 2 powers Pixel Watch 5
The Pixel Watch 5 sports an Actua 360 LTPO AMOLED display with a refresh rate of 60Hz and peak brightness of 3,000 nits.
It also comes with AI-powered watch faces that can be customized according to the user's style.
The smartwatch is powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon W5 Gen 2 Accelerated processor and Cortex-M55 secondary processor for improved performance.
Fitness features
The smartwatch also comes with improved fitness tracking capabilities
The Pixel Watch 5 also promises improved fitness tracking with double the GPS route accuracy over previous generations.
It uses 3D building models, satellite data, and real-time information from weather stations to improve GPS accuracy in challenging environments.
The watch comes with enhanced storage capacity of 64GB and a new Strength Training workout experience that guides users through sets/rest periods while allowing them to log weights/reps directly from their wrist.