Hear Rate Using Webcam

In May of 2012, a friend turned me onto a paper out of the MIT Media Lab by Ming-Zher Poh et. al. who were able to measure a person’s heart rate using a standard webcam.  It seemed hard to believe and I couldn’t let it go without testing it out.  I get out my webcam and laptop and in a few hours I had this:

More to come…

References

Poh, M.Z., McDuff, D.J., Picard, R.W., “Advancements in Non-contact, Multiparameter Physiological Measurements Using a Webcam,” IEEE Transactions on Biomedical engineering, vol.58, no.1, pp. 7-11, Jan 2011. doi: 10.1109/TBME.2010.2086456 PDF