Google’s new Nest Hub tracks your sleep
SAN RAMON, Calif. — Google’s next internet-connected home device will test whether consumers trust the company enough to let it snoop on their sleep.
New sleep-sensing technology will be a key feature on Google’s latest version of its Nest Hub, a 7-inch smart screen unveiled Tuesday. Like the previous generation, the $100 Nest Hub can display pictures and video in addition to fielding questions and handling household tasks through Google’s voice-activated assistant.
It also doesn’t feature a camera.
But the latest Nest Hub’s new trick may help differentiate from similar devices, such as Amazon’s Echo Show, while also providing a springboard for Google to get more involved in helping people manage their help.
If you allow it, the device will also monitor your sleeping patterns from your bedside, negating the need to wear a fitness device or any other potentially bothersome gadget in bed. The feature, which Google intends to offer for free through at least this year, relies on a new chip Google calls Soli, which uses radar to detect motion, including the depth of a person’s breathing.
The Nest Hub is supposed to generate weekly sleep reports with easy-to-understand breakdowns on the length and quality of sleep, how frequently the user gets up at night, and snoring and coughing frequency, along with tips developed in consultation with the American Academy of Sleep Medicine.
But the feature may also raise privacy concerns — especially given Google’s history of online surveillance to collect personal details such as interests, habits and whereabouts to help sell the digital ads that generate most of its revenue.
It also underscores Google’s obvious intent to extend its tentacles into new areas of people’s lives in its relentless quest to make more money, said Jeff Chester, executive director of the Center for Digital Democracy, a consumer and privacy rights group.
“Google’s goal is to monetize every cell of your body,” Chester said.