We've got to say, we're guessing both Survivor and Prince would approve here, as this is easily one of the most impressive uses of a heart rate sensor yet. Anaid Gomez Ortigoza, a bright young lass at NYU, has whipped up what she's calling kokoro, which translates into "the heart of things" in Japanese. Put as simply as possible, this prototype project allows for iPod playlists to be shuffled depending on one's current heart rate; if your heart is pumping some kind of fierce, the device will likely cue up a little M83, and if you're at rest, you just might get to hear a smooth jam from the likes of Copeland. Don't believe us, though -- hop on past the break for a demonstrative video.

[Via talk2myshirt]

For those of us who haven't moved our fundament in three days, we can definitely attest to the fact that finding motivation to exercise is amongst life's greatest challenges. Not to fear, as Allen, Matt and Doug have decided to provide all the encourage we nerds need with their final EE316 (Computer Engineering) project. By utilizing an Axis network camera, a Bluetooth heart rate sensor and a few intelligent lines of code, they concocted a Space Invaders exercise program that requires the player to physically move in order to stay alive. Talk about incentive. Check the vid and full description in the read link.

[Via Hack-A-Day]

Now that every kid on planet Earth is attempting to mimic the once-heroic Michael Phelps, it's only fair to equip them with the very best in training tools. FINIS, the same firm that's been cranking out bone conducting underwater MP3 players for years on end, has finally branched out a bit with the introduction of the AquaPulse. By utilizing an Infrared sensor, the device -- which straps onto one's goggles and rests on the temple bone -- can continually monitor heart rate and communicate it audibly to the swimmer via bone conduction in customizable intervals. Unfortunately, FINIS didn't think to integrate music playback into this for moments when it's not dishing out vitals, but you could also rock one of its dedicated music players on the non-dominant ear. Olympians-to-be can catch it this May for $139.99. Full release is after the break.

We knew something was up with these Bluetooth heart rate straps from Polar, and sure enough, Nokia has announced a partnership to get serious fitness monitoring integrated with its products. The first to take advantage will be a special version of the N79, creatively dubbed the N79 Active, which will include 4GB of onboard memory the requisite strap right in the box and sell for about €375 ($494) when it ships "soon" in "select territories." Of course, the new hardware isn't any good without new software, and it just so happens that the N79 Active will include a new version of Nokia's Sports Tracker app for keeping tabs on workouts. We'd heard that other Polar accessories like cadence sensors for biking fanatics were in the works, so this could end up developing into a whole franchise.

[Via All About Symbian]

Not that we haven't seen similar technology from other outfits before, but we'll take as many in-car safety advancements as we can get. It's bruited that Fujitsu is conjuring up a sophisticated sensor system that can actually detect when a driver gets drowsy or begins to sink into a deep, dark wonder-world of sleep. Put simply, the system would detect specific changes in the motorist's heart rate via the steering wheel, and once it determined that you weren't exactly "with it" any longer, the car could then roll its own windows down, blast the stereo or jolt the wheel in order to get your attention. In our minds, the biggest issue here is to not cause an accident by spooking a sleepy driver out of their slumber, and we presume that's exactly what the company is working on in its R&D labs.

[Image courtesy of MetroHealth]

Sure, there's something to be said for turning a workout into a game, and the Wii Fit has that in spades, but there's also perks to a system that tracks every aspect of your for-realsies workouts at all times. The THP² Personal Training System from Korea's Nury Tec combines a GPS pod, body fat scale and chest strap hear rate receiver to track your well being during and after a workout. All the gadgets transmit wirelessly to a watch controller, which in turn transmits to a PC receiver to download all your stats to an included program. It's like Nike+ on steroids (minus the steroids... don't do drugs kids!), and with a projected price of $180 when this hits the States this year, not a bad alternative on price either.

Polar's RS800, which was originally introduced last September, is getting one-upped this fall by the RS800G3 multisport training system. Essentially, this acts as a GPS upgrade to the wristwatch, which "enables athletes to measure speed and distance for a variety of outdoor sports." The entire system now consists of the RS800 wrist unit, Wearlink W.I.N.D. heart rate transmitter, ProTrainer 5 software and the G3 GPS Sensor, and those who already plunked down for the watch last year can purchase the G3 GPS sensor separately. The sensor itself packs a SiRFstarIII chipset, is water resistant and can last around 15-hours on just a single AA battery. Price wise, athletes (or athletes to-be) can pick up the entire RS800G3 bundle for $499.95, while the standalone G3 will run you $139.95.

[Thanks, SK]

Although there's plenty of options out there when scouting a relatively ugly, GPS-enabled timepiece, Sportline is claiming that its Solo 960 is the "world's only heart rate watch and accelerometer combination." This fairly decent looking wristwatch includes a pedometer (which utilizes the motion-sensing accelerometer), the firm's own "3Beat Sensor and One-Touch technologies for ECG accurate heart-rate measurement," an EL backlight, five alarms, dual time zone display, and oh yeah, it actually tells the current time of day, too. Not too shabby for $99.99, we think.

Joining the growing list of up and coming software touched by Microsoft is a number of wireless applications showed off at a summit in the firm's hometown. Most interesting was Fone+, which was described as a "product that lets users connect their mobile phones to a TV, a keyboard, and a mouse" in order to convert their set into a web browsing portal. Of course, we North Americans would probably just tether our mobiles to a laptop to enjoy big screen surfing, but this device will be aimed at nations such as a China "where PC penetration is still quite low but mobile phone ownership is high." Next up was MPTrain, which wed a heart rate sensor with a tempo analyzer to allow runners to "use music players in their mobile phones to set their workouts." Granted, it's not like we don't already have similar alternatives, but this method removes the need for a certain DAP to be on your person in order to tune your workout. As expected, no release dates for these ideas were noted, but hopefully they'll end up a bit more convincing than prior attempts.

Sure, your heart keeps busy, pumping blood, beating all the time, and constantly making sure you don't die, but the researchers at the University of Udine in Italy have a better use in mind: making your video games more challenging. Using a "pulseoxymeter" sensor, users can control games by physical movement, while the difficulty and speed of the game are adjusted to the heart rate of the player. The system is meant to be used for maintaining the appropriate level of exertion during exercise, based on a physical response. Of course, all the exercise in the world won't make that bad looking knock-off of Breakout any more fun. Check the video after the break.

While there's already a plethora of safe, proven methods to monitor your heart rate, there's just no satisfaction in buying an off the shelf BioShirt when you know you possess the skills (and spare time) to craft a system of your own. Interested in making his own mark in biomedical engineering, a crafty individual set out to build his own electrocardiograph for nothing more than fun, but rather than keeping his homegrown work all to himself, he busted out a set of instructions in order for us less inventive souls to replicate the process. Aside from creating an ECG board, reading results with LABView, and having the nerve to actually strap leads to your body and hope that you don't electrocute yourself, there's still a good bit of coding and behind the scenes work necessary to pull this off. So if you never got around to going to medical school, but you know you've got the DIY skills to operate a heart monitoring system in your home office, be sure to hit the read link and read that blurb about "destroying your nervous system" real carefully.

[Via MAKE]

GPS watches certainly aren't new 'round these parts, but a timepiece that sticks up around 1.1-inches off your arm has to set some sort of unwanted record. Hot on the heels of the company's MG-920 Bluetooth GPS receiver, Mainnav is offering up a GPS wristwatch with built-in Bluetooth and a SiRF Star III LP chip that could probably double as a weapon in a fistfight. Aside from sporting an unnaturally large design, the Taiwanese device can track your current position, operate as a standalone GPS receiver, and also handle heart-rate monitoring, speed and distance tracking, and sense the temperature whilst frolicking in the great outdoors. Unsurprisingly, this beast can handle underwater excursions without a hitch, and the built-in Li-ion cell should keep things humming along for a good bit before needing a recharge. As of now, it doesn't look like Europe nor the US will ever see the behemoth on their shelves, which seems fairly smart considering the fashion sense most of western civilization holds dear.

[Via GPSGazette, thanks Dimitris]