• A screenshot from the researchers' video shows their technology monitoring a baby's breathing and heart rate remotely.


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Could wireless replace wearables?

CSAIL wireless technology that measures heart rate and breathing through walls has applications for personal health, baby monitors, and law enforcement.

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Adam Conner-Simons
Email: aconner@csail.mit.edu
Phone: 617-324-9135
MIT Computer Science & Artificial Intelligence Lab





“It has traditionally been very difficult to capture such minute motions that occur at the rate of mere millimeters per second,” says MIT professor of electrical engineering and computer science Dina Katabi, the paper's co-author who also directs the Wireless Center. “Being able to do so with a low-cost, accessible technology opens up the possibilities for people to be able to track their vital signs on their own.”

The team — which includes Robert Miller, a professor of electrical engineering and computer science, and graduate students Fadel Adib and Zach Kabalec — has also developed the capability to track the movements of up to four distinct individuals, which could be helpful for search-and-rescue operations (such as when emergency responders are trying to find survivors inside a burning building).

As described in an earlier MIT News story, the system works by transmitting a low-power wireless signal and using its reflections to track moving humans. It can do so even if the humans are in closed rooms or hiding behind a wall. 

As the signal is transmitted at a wall, a portion of the signal penetrates through, reflecting off a person on the other side. However, due to all the signal interference from other objects, the team had to create technology to cancel out irrelevant reflections.

In order to monitor breathing, the technology needed to be precise: The researchers created a complex metric that approximates the subject’s volume, and then observed and amplified its changes to distinguish the breathing.

Katabi’s team is now working on higher resolution capabilities that would allow them to detect actual body silhouettes, gestures, and even emotions. (Heart rate and breathing are strong indicators of emotional extremes like fear or anger.)

Topics: Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL), Wireless, Electrical Engineering & Computer Science (eecs), Motion sensing


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