VHIR participates in the SOLARIS project, which will analyze the body's physiological response to the solar eclipse

The Minister for Research and Universities, Núria Montserrat, has presented the SOLARIS collaborative science project with citizen participation on the occasion of the total solar eclipse of 12 August 2026, which will make it possible to analyze the human body's response during the eclipse based on anonymous data collected by smartwatches and other wearable devices. The Vall d'Hebron Research Institute (VHIR), through its Pulmonology and Cardiovascular Diseases research groups, will analyze the data collected within the framework of this project.

SOLARIS (Monitoring Observations of Cardiac and Respiratory Activity during a Solar Eclipse) has been launched by the Department of Research and Universities as part of the 'Catalonia Looks at the Sky' initiative. The initiative also includes the participation of the Institute of Space Studies of Catalonia (IEEC).

At the presentation event, held this morning at the headquarters of the Department of Research and Universities, Minister Montserrat stated that the project "helps highlight the research carried out in Catalonia by encouraging collaboration with citizens that will allow us to generate new knowledge and better understand a phenomenon as unique as solar eclipses." She also emphasized that the initiative "is in line with the Government's commitment to working on the basis of a science that we want to reach society as a whole, an objective that aligns us with the values of open science."

For her part, Dr. Maria Jesús Cruz Carmona, head of VHIR's Pulmonology Research Group, pointed out that "the eclipse is a phenomenon that arouses great enthusiasm, and through this study, based on citizens' contributions, we will be able to assess how this is reflected in people's physiological responses. Until now, these changes have been very difficult to measure, but thanks to smartwatches we will be able to record parameters such as heart rate and respiratory rate and analyze how the human body reacts."

"This is a very special situation: it suddenly becomes dark, the temperature drops, and it is experienced collectively as a unique event. We believe that all these factors will have a physiological impact, and that is precisely what we want to study by comparing the data from the two days before the eclipse, the day of the eclipse itself, and the two days afterwards," she explained.

"This is a pioneering study because it is the first time that research of this kind has been promoted from both a scientific perspective and through citizen participation and collaborative science. We expect a very high level of participation because the more people contribute, the more representative and valuable the results will be," she added.

Finally, Eduard Masana, astrophysicist and science communicator at the IEEC, stated that "we are facing a unique opportunity to bring science closer to society, and we have designed it in a simple way to ensure that as many people as possible are encouraged to take part."

Measurement of biometric parameters

Voluntary citizen participation and the use of wearable devices will make it possible to analyze possible variations in physiological parameters such as heart rate and breathing during the two days before, the day of, and the two days after the eclipse. The changes in conditions caused by the astronomical phenomenon will contribute to generating scientific knowledge about the relationship between natural phenomena, emotions, and health.

SOLARIS uses OneCareAI technology to facilitate the secure and anonymous collection of the biometric data required for the study. The study opens the door to obtaining an unprecedented dataset and reinforces the role of citizen science as a tool for advancing biomedical and environmental research.

To participate, it will only be necessary to have a wearable device capable of recording at least heart rate, download the project application, and synchronize it with the device.

To ensure the scientific validity of the project and enable rigorous analysis, it is essential that the submitted data meet a series of requirements. First, they must include time references, with recordings from the days before and after the event in order to establish a comparative baseline against the behavior observed during the eclipse. Data collection will cover five consecutive days: the two days before the eclipse, the day of the eclipse itself, and the two days afterwards. Finally, participants should avoid engaging in intense physical activity during the measurement periods.

From 12 July, the QR code to download the application will be available on the website https://eclipsicatalunya.cat/.

A citizen science project

"SOLARIS is also an opportunity to open up research, make it more accessible, and invite society to become part of it. We want to spark curiosity and demonstrate that anyone can contribute to generating knowledge. In this case, the value lies precisely in the combination of many individual datasets which, together, allow us to answer questions that we could not solve in any other way. It is a way of collectivizing knowledge and understanding research as a shared endeavor between the scientific community and society," explained Sara Mas, Head of the Impact and RRI Office at VHIR.