TOKYO • In an Olympic first, more than 100 archers transmitted their heart rates as they went for the bull's eye at the Games, pushing forward contactless health monitoring despite some disquiet on accuracy and surveillance implications.
Pattern-recognition software from Panasonic Corp calculates heartbeats per minute by tracking face colour in live video from standard cameras placed 12 metres from the shooting line. Variations correlate to pulse, which displays on the Olympics' television feed.
All but two women and four men among the Games' 128 archers agreed to participate, with data retained only in the form of archived TV footage.
"I like it because I am able to know heart rates of other athletes, and think, 'Oh, that athlete is always calm'. As long as they are using data as stated, I am cool with it," said Japanese archer Miki Nakamura.
Some archers find lower pulse rates help steady their aim, though research in simulated conditions has shown the measure has little influence on scores.
Tom Dielen, World Archery Federation's (WA) secretary-general, said entertaining viewers was the goal as the competition ended on Saturday.
"In the stands, you can feel the stress level because you feel the excitement building up and everyone getting quiet," he added.
The pressure facing South Korea teenager and gold contender Kim Je-deok appeared evident as he lost to Germany's Florian Unruh in the round of 32 in a huge upset last Tuesday.
The favourite's heart rate was around 120 beats per minute (bpm) when he shot three straight 10s in the first set, but jumped to 160 bpm as later arrows hit 8s and then to 170 bpm.
Beside Panasonic, Microsoft Corp and Google are investing in camera-based health tracking software because it can enable online doctor check-ups and spot worsening conditions earlier.
A paper by British and Canadian researchers reviewed 26 studies of camera-based heart rate calculations and found that the systems were accurate.
But those studies rely on a scale of skin tones that experts say is biased against people of colour, and leave questions about whether the technologies accurately measure darker bodies.
Microsoft and Google have said they are working through the concerns.
REUTERS
