I-CubeX Online Store - BioBeat : Heart rate sensor

BioBeat v2.2 (obsolete)

Be I-CubeX-ed in a heartbeat. This sensor will capture your pulse simply by placing the sensor on your finger tip or by attaching it to your earlobe. Use the BioBeat with a wireless Wi-microSystem to operate conveniently without being tethered to your computer.

Application information

Product			BioBeat sensor
Examples			The BioBeat combines perfectly with the BioEmo, and BioVolt. Become zen and still perform. Add intensity to your musical performance by tweaking your sound through signals straight from the heart. Perform heartbeat controlled audio with the BioBeat software (see below). For whole-body expression go bodysuit, capture all your joints' movements and express with all your extremities. Combine with BendMicro, BendMini and BendShort sensors from finger to toe. Add a GForce3D-6 on your feet and hands to capture kicks and punches. A Hot will keep you in check of your body temp. Top it all off with a TouchGlove on both hands to always be able to touch-control your performance, even when you're doing a handstand.
Manuals			The front of the sensor is marked by the heart symbol. To mount the sensor on the finger, use the round velcro pads to stick onto the back of the sensor, place the sensor on your finger tip and wrap the velcro strip around it to secure the sensor in place. To mount the sensor on the ear, place the sensor in the opened metal clip and place it on the earlobe such that the front of the sensor touches the skin, then close the clip. The sensor can be placed anywhere on the body where blood is flowing right below the skin surface. If the sensor is pressed onto the skin too hard, or if the skin is whitish (eg. because it is too cold), there will be no signal variation that corresponds to the blood flow. If it is pressed onto the skin too lightly, the sensor may move relatively to the skin too easily resulting in too large signal variations. In either case no heart beat can be detected. For more technical details we recommend further reading, and more about photoplethysmogram and pulse oximetry.
Software			Our SensePlay software is a very easy way to quickly map sensor data to (sequences of) sounds, images and videos using a drag & drop user interface. Our EditorX software allows you to configure the digitizer to process and map the sensor data of multiple sensors simultaneously. To map the heartbeat rate to a MIDI message (sent each time a heart beat is detected), use the EditorX settings as shown in the picture at the bottom of this page, where the monitor is enabled to see the raw sensor data to the right of the heartbeat rate (BPM) value. You may need to adjust the Abs-BPM offset (to match the sensor's output when it's not placed on a finger) and/or smooth (to merge multiple spikes per heartbeat so they can be detected as one peak by the processing's Peak algorithm) and/or the processing peak threshold (to be below the lowest level of the peaks but higher than the output value when there is no peak, so that the peak search algorithm is reset each time the sensor value decreases after detecting a peak) and/or window (to match the minimum width of the peak counted in number of samples) parameters. Our Link software allows you to receive the sensor data from the digitizer and use your computer to view, calibrate, record, process and map the sensor data of multiple sensors simultaneously. Our SensorX software allows you to receive the sensor data from the digitizer and use your computer to view, calibrate, record, process and map the data of a single sensor. 18 Jan 2018: BioBeat v2.31 for MacOS and Windows from source code in Max. For multiple sensors or sensor outputs, run multiple instances of the application, each started in its own folder. Use together with Connect (MacOS / Windows). 03 Nov 2017: BioBeat v2.30 for MacOS (Sierra or lower) or Windows (64bit), and MacOS (Sierra or lower) or Windows (32bit) from source code in Max. For multiple sensors or sensor outputs, run multiple instances of the application, each started in its own folder. Use together with Connect (MacOS / Windows).

Technical specifications

Product		BioBeat sensor
Version		2.2 (October 2022)
Sensing parameter		skin blood perfusion level
Sensing method		light reflectance sensor
Power supply		3 to 5 V DC, 5 mA at 5 V
Dimensions		17 (diameter) x 5 mm (0.67 x 0.2 inch)
Mounting	107 x 25 mm (4.1 x 1.0 inch) velcro strap, 16 mm (0.63 inch) diameter ear lobe clip
Cable		1.0 m (39 inch) shielded, red wire = power, black wire = ground, white wire = signal, extendable at least 100 m (328 ft) with ExtendCableD-10
Connector		male 1x4 plug with a row of 3 pins spaced 2.54 mm (0.100 inch)
Weight		11 g (0.39 oz) incl. cable and mounting hardware