Google is working on snore and cough detection in health app

Google is working on a functionality to monitor snoring and coughing during the user’s sleep with an Android phone. This is evident from texts that were found in a new version of the Google Health Studies app.

9to5Google writes that the functionalities are not yet available to everyone; the Google Health Studies app can’t just be installed and if that’s bypassed, the feature is still protected. It would only be accessible to Google employees who want to participate in the “study,” as the company calls it. For those participants, it is also noted that the function is only expected to work well if they sleep alone.

In addition to snoring and coughing, a screenshot the site shares shows that it also maps when the user actually sleeps. Changes in the amount of light in the room are also monitored and noted. All this is used to estimate the quality of the night’s sleep for the user. The tools must remain privacy-friendly by performing the analysis on the phone itself.

Such functionalities are not entirely new to Google. Fitbit came in 2021 with the ability to detect snoring and other sounds using the company’s smartwatches. The company was already owned by Google at the time. The second generation of the Nest Hub smart speaker also has sleep monitoring functions.

Image via 9to5Google