Found footage: iPhone + Arduino + Heartrate Monitor = HumanAPI

HumanApi, Sports ECG in real life from uxebu on Vimeo.

iPhone developer Nikolai Onken has been hard at work putting together what he calls the Human API. He wants to explore how real life can be the source of data that can be gathered and analyzed using web technologies. In the project demonstrated in this video, he has put together a prototype that gathers heart rate data from a Polar T31 transmitter, and collects it on his iPhone using Bluetooth transmission. An Arduino kit receives the Polar data using a custom receiver and transmits it via Bluetooth, where it is read on the iPhone using the open source BTstack, that we've covered before here on TUAW.

As the video shows, the iPhone provides live feedback of his heart rate as he engages in running and deep knee bends. His custom application tracks the data as it streams in via Bluetooth and displays that data on an on-screen graph. In the end, he has created a customizable iPhone solution that communicates with external hardware in real time. Pretty neat stuff, and a great example of how a jailbroken iPhone can provide a great prototyping platform.