Pulse-sensing headband

[Video Link] Becky Stern made this video about her cool pulse-sensing headband, which makes a heart-shaped LED array flash in time to your heartbeat. You can build one yourself by following the instructions at Make: Projects. It's also one of many cool "DIY Superhuman" projects that we have in Make Vol 29, which is will hit newsstands soon!

Mark Frauenfelder is the founder of Boing Boing and the editor-in-chief of MAKE and Cool Tools. Twitter: @frauenfelder. Come and hear Mark speak at the ALA conference in Chicago on July 1.

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http://boingboing.net/ The Life Of Bryan

That sounds like a great mod for a helmet-mounted bike blinkie.
- http://glitch.tl/ Michael Smith
  
  I was thinking more of a pulse meter integrated with a bike helmet, or pulse monitoring gear integrated with a pilots’s headset, or a better way to get medical data for paramedics. I am impressed with their sensor, but less impressed with the output side lets flash some LEDs!.
  
  edit: This would be great to measure real time human factors in human machine interfaces. Pulse rate might be a good way to know that the human part of the loop is being overloaded.
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1095224255 Kristin Reed

It looks very uncomfortable with all the wires and electronic stuffs inside. I will pass.
- http://sternlab.org Becky Stern
  
  It’s actually really comfy and I can’t even tell the sensor is on after wearing it for a minute!
  - http://www.facebook.com/postelwait Cameron Postelwait
    
    does the pinch on your ear get old after a while? have you read any romance novels to see if the heart pulsates faster?
    - http://sternlab.org Becky Stern
      
      You forget it’s even there. What’s funny is I can’t see it while wearing it, unless I were to read that romance novel in front of a mirror! =]
echolocate chocolate

I absolutely love how silly this is.
Culturedropout

Forget that! I wanna know how to build the main project on the magazine cover! Yeowza!
- snowmentality
  
  *headdesk*
http://www.kmoser.com kmoser

It’s the modern version of those 1970s biofeedback headbands.
http://noctilucent-studios.blogspot.com/ Noctilucent Studios

Very cool idea, but the execution looks a little “clunky”. Seems like something as primal to ones sense of self as our heartbeat could be presented in a more elegant fashion…..

B+ for effort!
- http://sternlab.org Becky Stern
  
  I’d love to see your take on it! The sensor is entirely independent of the output.
  - http://noctilucent-studios.blogspot.com/ Noctilucent Studios
    
    alas, that sort of electronic wizardry is beyond my ken at the moment, although I am hoping to introduce some electronic elements into my pieces later this year.
Pedantic Douchebag

Think of the interrogation possibilities! Sort of a cuter version of the Voight-Kampff test.
Rindan

That is kind of a cool little project. I think it would be pretty neat to rock something like that while dancing. El lights rigged into a larger outfit that can hold more power (like a shirt) could be pretty flashy. As you dance and work your heart rate up the pulsing would get more frantic. It isn’t going to solve world hunger or anything, but it is fun.
sam1148

Now, make it small enough to fit on a finger…like a ring. Or even a wrist band.
- http://www.jjsaul.com Jim Saul
  
  I bet the sensor is optical, so if it is to be all one unit an earring clip might be doable.
  - http://sternlab.org Becky Stern
    
    Indeed. The challenge with earrings is to fit the entire logic circuit and battery in a package that’s not too heavy or bulky.
    - http://www.jjsaul.com Jim Saul
      
      How about a whole-ear cover like elf ears… not only could you hang the instrument package behind the ear like a hearing aid, you could put the LEDs in the pointy tips! :-)
      
      Seriously though, you do wonderful work, making playful and inspiring art.
rtresco

Expect a lot of false-positives when speed dating.
http://profiles.google.com/steve.nordquist Steve Nordquist

Getting a sensor tuned to hemoglobin can’t be 64 times harder than an optoisolator or IrDA module, and I think it’s fair to flash blue-green when the heart falls behind demand. You pick blue-green to be on when not in systole if you wanted to be garish, or switch to warm light strobe during systole if you get stair-stepping to the _Girl WIth The Dragon Tattoo_(
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer

Scott Rudin Productions

Yellow Bird Films) soundtrack.