Google enters the field of sleep monitoring with the Nest Hub
Google unveiled the second generation of the Nest Hub, which is a smart screen and amplifier that can track your sleep using a built-in radar sensor.
The device will launch on March 30 for $ 99, but customers can order it starting now.
The new Nest Hub represents the latest way in which Google is trying to highlight its smart home center from similar devices sold by Amazon and Facebook, and is the first to offer sleep tracking.
The second generation Nest Hub looks similar to the first generation, which first launched in 2018.
The device has a 7-inch screen that you can use to watch video streaming services, check weather, get alerts, turn on lights and more.
The newer model also has better speakers that deliver 50 percent more bass than the first model.
Users can set the new Nest Hub close to where they sleep, like a bedside table, and it will guide them through the setup process for Sleep Sensing, helping to align the radar with where you sleep in bed.
Google said: It can measure small movements, such as the movement of your chest during breathing, to determine your bedtime.
Microphones can determine if you are snoring or coughing, and other built-in sensors can determine room temperature and brightness of lights.
The device takes all this information and tells you how well you sleep and can then make recommendations, such as setting a reminder to go to bed at a certain time, or trying to meditate with your bedtime relaxation routine.
It appears that Google is trying to place a radar sensor in whatever product you can think of, as it was developed as part of Project Soli, which was first introduced in 2015.
Project Soli first appeared on the Pixel 4, which lets you skip songs by waving your hand across the screen, but it was removed in the Pixel 5.
It has since been introduced in a new model from the Nest Thermostat, where it is used to see if you are near a thermometer.
The new Nest Hub does not have a camera, so it cannot see what you are doing in bed, and Google said: All radar and sound data is analyzed via the device and is not sent to Google.
Information about how well you sleep is uploaded to the cloud if you want to sync it with Google Fit, the company's central health app that pulls data from other devices, such as phones and smart watches.
Google said: After you sleep, you can delete your sleep report at night, and you can delete all data at any time.
Sleep sensor is free for next year, and the search giant made it clear that it has not decided yet whether or not to charge the feature.