Project Ara Has Blood Oxygen Sensor In The Works

Project Ara is cool, because the ability to alter your smartphone specs piece-by-piece is attractive. Though we've not quite thought about what Ara could be beyond a smartphone — partly because it barely starts up right now — the use-cases for the handheld are nearly endless. At Engadget's Engage conference, Project Ara chief Paul Eremenko displayed a cool new feature for the device, which could take it well beyond your pocket and into the healthcare field. There's now a module that will test your blood oxygen level, just by putting a finger on it.

Though Ara is still more project than device, Eremenko popped a module on top of the device that reads blood oxygen levels.

With the promise of swappable parts, and knowing Google is working on things that aren't memory or cameras or other normal smartphone spec-sheet fodder, we're starting to see that Ara can be much more than just a phone.

Though it may not take the place of every medical device in a hospital, swappable modules are a great concept for consumers — especially those with blood oxygen issues, now. It's not hard to envision a thermostat module, or other home devices you might have. With a block of memory, you could keep track of all your info, and even store it locally if you like.

So when will we get our hands on any kind of Project Ara device? Eremenko said they plan on having a consumer pilot program "later in 2015", which likely means a 2016 rollout for Ara.

Via: Venture Beat