Autoevolution: "Your Body's Gas and Water Tell Pontosense if You're Alive and Well in Your Car"

It probably won't matter to you, but I grew up in Arizona, or as I like to call it, the Devil's Armpit - it's hot as hell out there! Well, one frequently encountered emergency is someone or something being left in a car. Well, you can guess what happens next, considering that temperatures can reach 115 F in the shade during the summer season. What if there was a way to monitor your precious and living cargo?

Luckily for us, a way to monitor the livelihood of our loved ones while you're not around does exist, and it's called Pontosense. You probably haven't heard of this crew yet, but no worries; that's why we're here.

Now, what makes Pontosense worth spending the next five minutes to read this article is the fact that it can track vitals such as your heart rate without ever touching you, and best of all, that data is fed to your smart device so that you can always monitor what's going on with you or your loved ones. In short, Pontosense is a contactless health monitoring system that works in your home or in your car, the latter being a bit different in functionality.

Overall, this crew and product popped up on the market back in 2021 when two minds, Yihong and Alex, gentlemen with experience in advanced electromagnetic research and wireless communications, decided to pool their expertise and create a new product to help simplify our lives. Frankly, they seem to have achieved what they set out to do - "to push the boundaries of wireless sensing further than they've ever been."

First off, let's explore just how this coin-sized trinket works. If you've heard of an RF (Radio Frequency) sensor, then you basically have an idea of precisely how Pontosense works. In short, because I'm not an electro-anything engineer, one part of the device sends out a radio frequency, and another part detects what happens with it. That "what happens with it" is essential to the process, and this is where Pontosense acts. It detects disturbances in the RF signal's reflections off micromovements, and then an AI takes over.

This is where your heart rate and breathing rate come in; these are considered obstacles or disturbances and, as such, can be analyzed by the receiving end of the RF unit or Pontosense. Sure, things are a bit more complicated than this, but that's the gist of it for now.

However, things start to get really interesting when we consider that Pontosense is running full speed ahead with an array of AI-driven algorithms that are constantly monitoring your vitals on the mmWave band. What is mmWave? It's considered the Extremely High Frequency (EHF) range or band used in radio communication, with a range of 30 GHz to 300 GHz, or 10 millimeter to 1 millimeter waves, respectively, hence its name.

To put things into perspective, a 5G network functions between 24 GHz and 47 GHZ, dipping quite a bit into the EHF range, with a peak of around 4 Gbps of data processed in optimum conditions by some devices while in the mmWave band (hat tip to Digital Trends). That's massive data crunching!

But how do electromagnetic frequencies and the human body go together? Well, I could go all mystical on us and dive into that forgotten knowledge of the ages or how birds migrate, but that's a story for another time. Instead, let me point out that my research into mmWaves has unveiled that these frequencies can measure micromovement down to 0.2 mm. What does this mean for any living, breathing body? It means there's a way to see you by intercepting and analyzing fluctuations in chest movements or a heartbeat.

With an idea of what's going on, let's throw a Pontosense sensor into your car, activate your smart device, and go shopping. This is where Pontosense reveals more of its capabilities. Not only can it detect all that I've mentioned, but it can also sense your location in a vehicle or room.

This unlocks Pontosense's ability to send alerts, such as seatbelt reminders in vehicles without seating sensors, and also detect and identify passengers, be they children, adults, or pets. Theft protection is also part of the magic here, or as Pontosense calls it, "Intrusion Detection," and I'm sure you can understand how it works; the AI is in there going, "Hey, why is there movement entering the car from the outside when I don’t detect anyone inside the vehicle?"

At this stage, Pontosense doesn't have a price on it, but you can book a demo via the manufacturer's website and see what this is all about. Better yet, you'll get your info from the folks who can clearly explain how an mmWave can detect micro-movements.

Regarding the effects RF electromagnetic fields have on the human body, that's a question for another day because there's a whole lot to talk about, and it's not all great news; constant research into our modern tech is starting to bring to light startling information.

This article was originally published on Autoevolution on August 27, 2023 by Cristian Curmei