MUMBAI: Soon we may get to listen to the music that our heart needs. Researchers in the US have designed a new ‘Musical Heart’ that enables smartphones to select music to get your heart pumping during workout.

The biofeedback-based system developed by a University of Virginia graduate researcher helps smartphones select music that will help get their owners' heart pumping during exercise and slow it down when they want to cool down or relax.

"Whether I am driving, jogging, travelling or relaxing - I never find the appropriate music to listen to. I believe there are many like me. The problem is: The heart wants to hear something, but our music player does not understand the need,” said Shahriar Nirjon, a doctoral student in computer science.

‘Musical Heart’ works by merging a microphone that detects the pulse in arteries in the ear with earphones that bring in music from a playlist on a smartphone.

The app selects tunes that optimize the heart rate of the user based on a given activity, playing fast-paced music for hard workouts, and slowing the beat for cool-downs. An algorithm refines the selection process of the system by storing heart rate data and calculating the effects of selected music on the rate. Over time, it improves music selections to optimize the user's heart rate.

“My joy was in connecting them together - in a non-invasive and cost-effective way," Nirjon said.