Google has announced that its “loss of pulse detection” feature for the Pixel Watch 3 will be available in the US by the end of March, following FDA clearance. The feature alerts emergency services and sounds an alarm when a person wearing the watch loses their pulse.
The feature is designed to detect loss of pulse events, which could be caused by heart attacks, poisoning, or other respiratory or circulatory issues. When activated, the watch performs additional checks, buzzes the wrist, asks if you’re okay, plays an audible alarm, and makes a 911 call using LTE connectivity or a connected phone.
The feature is not intended to provide treatment or save lives, but rather to alert emergency services in case of an emergency. However, it has limitations, such as not being able to prevent loss of pulse, determine the cause, or guarantee that emergency calls will go through.
A study tested the feature on 135 volunteers and found a sensitivity rate of 69.3%, indicating the feature was activated 69.3% of the time when an actual loss of pulse occurred. The feature also generated 1 false positive call per 7.75 user-years.
The feature is available in several European countries and can be enabled or disabled through the Pixel Watch app, where it will be an option during setup.
Source: https://lifehacker.com/health/pixel-watch-3-pulse-detector-feature