The Wi-Fi we use to surf the web every day just had a surprising discovery.

This cutting-edge technology was introduced by a Taiwanese (Chinese) power management company at Computex .

At the Computex show in Taipei this week, Taiwanese energy management company Delta announced an interesting study that suggests that in the near future, wifi networks could be monitoring our vital signs.

Dr. Tzi-cker Chiueh at Delta's research center demonstrated how algorithms can detect breathing rate and even heart rate just by analyzing disruptions in wifi signals.

 The algorithm estimates breathing rate with up to 95% accuracy when measuring within a range of 5 meters. (Illustration photo).

It turns out that today's wifi is quite sensitive to small movements and changes in the surrounding environment . By precisely measuring the travel time and angle of the wifi signal bouncing around the room, Delta has created algorithms that can track breathing with high accuracy.

Chiueh claims that the algorithm estimates breathing rate with 95 percent accuracy at a range of 5 meters. He can even detect heart rate, with 83 percent accuracy at a distance of 1 meter. He showed a video of an experiment in which the technology was able to distinguish between two people's sleeping states based on their breathing patterns and body movements using only wifi signals from two smartphones.

It would be revolutionary if this technology came to smartphones, eliminating the need to buy wearables to track our health. Google has been experimenting with 'contactless' health tracking on its Pixel phones, but it requires users to record a short video to measure breathing and heart rate. Perhaps wifi could help simplify the process.

However, Dr Chiueh intends to apply the technology on a larger scale. He says the wifi hotspots could be used to monitor patients in hospitals or elderly people in nursing homes, without the need for expensive specialist medical equipment.

The situation of children and pets being left in the car, endangering their lives, is also a case where this technology can be applied.

Beyond health and safety, Delta believes its wifi research can optimize network performance in difficult environments like warehouses by changing hotspots when it detects physical changes that could degrade network signals.

Currently, there is no specific time frame as to whether these projects will come to fruition.