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Assessing the Feasibility of Remote Photoplethysmography Through Videocalls: A Study of Network and Computing Constraints

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Image Analysis (SCIA 2023)

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Computer Science ((LNCS,volume 13886))

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Abstract

Remote photoplethysmography (rPPG) is a promising non-invasive technique for measuring vital signs remotely, such as through videocalls. However, network and computing constraints can significantly compromise its accuracy. In this study, we evaluated the effects of these constraints on rPPG methods using four reference datasets and a standard unsupervised rPPG signal extraction pipeline. Our experiments simulated the impact of frame dropping, streaming video at different resolutions and frame rates, and other resource limitations. We found that these constraints can significantly degrade rPPG accuracy, but implementing specific strategies (such as reconstructing the signal in the receiver) can mitigate these effects. For example, with a 20% of frame loss, our proposed strategies reduced the MAE increase from 539% to 29%. These findings highlight the importance of considering network and computing constraints in rPPG applications.

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Acknowledgments

This research has been supported by the Academy of Finland 6G Flagship program under Grant 346208 and PROFI5 HiDyn under Grant 326291.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center for Machine Vision and Signal Analysis, University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland

    Constantino Álvarez Casado, Le Nguyen, Olli Silvén & Miguel Bordallo López

  2. VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland Ltd., Oulu, Finland

    Miguel Bordallo López

Authors
  1. Constantino Álvarez Casado
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  2. Le Nguyen
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  3. Olli Silvén
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  4. Miguel Bordallo López
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Constantino Álvarez Casado .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Aalborg University, Aalborg, Denmark

    Rikke Gade

  2. Linköping University, Linköping, Sweden

    Michael Felsberg

  3. Tampere University, Tampere, Finland

    Joni-Kristian Kämäräinen

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Álvarez Casado, C., Nguyen, L., Silvén, O., Bordallo López, M. (2023). Assessing the Feasibility of Remote Photoplethysmography Through Videocalls: A Study of Network and Computing Constraints. In: Gade, R., Felsberg, M., Kämäräinen, JK. (eds) Image Analysis. SCIA 2023. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 13886. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-31438-4_38

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-31438-4_38

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-031-31437-7

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-031-31438-4

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