Google is stepping into its sleep with a new Nest Hub screen

SAN RAMON, Calif.: Google’s home-connected home device will test whether consumers trust the company enough to let them sleep while they sleep.

The new sleep sensor technology will be a key feature in Google’s latest version of Nest Hub, a 7-inch screen-detected on Tuesday.

But the latest Nest Hub could also do a new trick. If you allow it, this device will also monitor your sleep patterns from your bed, counteracting the need to wear an exercise device or other gadget that may be problematic in bed. The feature, which Google intends to offer us for free at least this year, relies on a new chip that Google calls Soli, which uses radar to detect movement, including the depth of human breath.

$ 100 for Nest Hub can showcase photos and videos in addition to query questions and handle homework with Google’s voice assistant. Does not include a camera.

Nest Hub should produce weekly sleep reports on the easy-to-understand deterioration in length and quality of sleep, how often a user wakes up at night and snorts and coughs frequently, and tips developed in consultation with the American Academy of Sleep Medicine.

Google says it is sharpening technology by studying 15,000 sleepers on a combined night of 110,000.

This type of help may sound appealing to millions of sleep-deprived people. But this feature can also raise concerns – especially given Google’s long online history of collecting personal information such as interests, habits and whereabouts to help sell digital ads that generate the most revenue.

The company may also eventually change the feature to work with its Fitbit line of solidarity devices, which Google took over in January. The $ 2.1 billion acquisition has raised concerns that Google could use those gadgets to take a deeper look at personal health.

Google emphasizes privacy protection built on the sleep feature. First, users will have to open it themselves. Nest Hub will also have controls that Google says will keep you clear when sleep tracking is turned on and make it easier to delete data from the device.

All sounds will be stored on the device, which means they will not be sent to Google’s data centers, although more sleep information will be provided for analysis and reporting. No data collected on the sleep feature will be used to sell ads, says Ashton Udall, chief product manager of Google Nest.

This article was published from a wire agency feed without text editing.