Meta has announced that it is adding new features dedicated to fitness in its Meta Quest headphones: the integration of Health Connect to sync your training data and the association with heart rate sensors via Bluetooth.
At the beginning of the year, Meta is committed to fitness and sports with its virtual reality headsets, taking advantage of the sports purposes of many users. The brand has indicated that it is deploying two novelties for its VR headsets: the arrival of Health Connect and the pairing of heart rate sensors, according to reports. the edge.
Health Connect comes to Meta Quest: what it will bring
As a reminder, Health Connect is Google’s Health API, created in collaboration with Samsung almost a year ago. It allows to group health data collected by connected objects and sports applications on smartphones. The interest is to share this data with other applications and that is what Meta does today.
We can now sync data collected during Quest Move VR training to the Google Fit health app, for example, automatically. Good news for Android users, who weren’t so great before: the Apple Health integration was rolled out last June.
By default, movement statistics are stored locally in the Meta Quest headset: they are only shared with the manufacturer’s servers if this data is synced with the Meta Quest app. An exchange that is required if you want to use Health Connect.
As indicated the edge«Meta also makes it clear that the data you choose to share is end-to-end encrypted and will not be used for targeted advertising. That being said, when you enable this type of API, you also agree to a separate set of privacy policies and terms and conditions.“. This implies that you must also accept the terms of Google Health Connect and all third-party applications that are connected to the API.
Heart rate can finally be displayed in real time on Meta’s VR headset
Another novelty: a Bluetooth heart rate monitor can be connected to the brand’s virtual reality headsets. This allows you to see your heart rate in real time, which is displayed just like calories burned or the duration of your current exercise. In addition to that, we can overlay this information on any video game or virtual reality application.
For now, “Compatible heart rate monitors are Garmin HRM-Dual and Polar H10 chest strapsOther Bluetooth heart rate monitors and smartwatches may work, but it’s not guaranteed, as Meta’s system appears to use the ANT+ protocol.
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