FaceVitals
Final Round - ICASSP 2027 • 16–21 May 2027
Task Description
Three vitals, one RGB stream - under real constraints
Heart Rate
SpO₂
Blood Pressure
Extract HR, SpO2, BP from subtle color/motion variations in standard RGB video. Both recorded and live-stream modes must be supported.
Why FaceVitals?
A single camera should do what five devices do - equitably.
Every face already carries vital-sign information. Blood flow driven by each heartbeat produces imperceptible rhythmic changes in skin color and reflected light - invisible to the eye, recoverable computationally from ordinary RGB video via remote photoplethysmography (rPPG).
Traditionally, vitals need contact hardware: oximeter, cuff, thermometer, ECG leads - each solving one problem, each requiring the patient to be present with the right equipment. In villages, ambulances, disaster zones, telehealth, or home monitoring for elderly/chronically ill, that equipment is not there.
What you build
Real-time system that extracts Heart Rate (HR), SpO2, Blood Pressure (systolic/diastolic) - using only RGB facial video. No thermal, NIR or contact sensor at inference.
- Supports both offline and online inference, including low-resolution, compressed, and low-fps inputs.
- Provides clinical-grade validation against pulse oximeter, sphygmomanometer, and ECG.
- Generalizes across skin tone, gender, pose, and age, degrading gracefully without silent failures.
- Is optimized for edge and mobile deployment with on-device and low-bandwidth offline mode.
Constraints (C1–C7)
Adding more constraints will lead to higher chances of winning.
Teams can follow any number of the following constraints in the videos.
Low-light operation
Performance reported at ≤50 lux — well below typical indoor lighting.
Diverse skin tones & dermatology
Robust across Fitzpatrick I–VI and conditions such as vitiligo.
Multi-face tracking
Continuously isolates designated target while rejecting bystanders.
Low camera resolution
Graceful degradation on ≤640×480 (VGA) and ≤320×240 (QVGA).
Low bandwidth / remote area
On-device / offline mode at ≤500 kbps and ≤10 fps.
Aging skin 60–70+
Stable extraction despite wrinkles and reduced elasticity.
Masked-face operation
Compensates for ≥40% lower-face occlusion via forehead/periocular ROI.
Rounds
Three-Stage Challenge
From single-parameter baseline to a full clinical real-time system.
One-Parameter Extraction (HR)
Extract Heart Rate from RGB video under controlled & uncontrolled conditions.
Two-Parameter Extraction (HR + SpO₂)
Jointly estimate HR and SpO₂ from RGB video - no thermal or contact sensors.
Full Three-Parameter System + Clinical Validation
Integrated real-time system for HR, SpO₂ & BP with mandatory clinical validation.
Dataset
Teams can use either a public dataset or their own dataset.
All datasets require ethical rigor and proper consent.
Your Own Dataset
The team may prepare their own dataset for their constraints by strictly adopting Institutional review board (IRB) procedures / any medical legal procedures of their own country. The IRB ethical clearance is mandatory if any human participation is involved. IRB ethical clearance documents must be submitted in the initial round of judging.
Public Datasets
Organizer Dataset
The team can obtain the reference dataset from the organizers through mail.
Important Dates
| Milestone | Dates |
|---|---|
| Challenge Announcement / Registration Starts | 11 September 2026 |
| Team Registration Deadline | 25 October 2026 |
| Phase 1 Team Work Submission Deadline | 30 November 2026 |
| Phase 1 Results | 05 December 2026 |
| Phase 2 Team Work Submission Deadline | 16 January 2027 |
| Phase 2 Results | 21 January 2027 |
| Announcement of 3 Finalist Teams | 09 February 2027 |
| Final Competition at ICASSP 2027 | 16–21 May 2027 |
Organizing Committee
Dr. Vijay Jeyakumar
Secretary, IEEE SPS Madras Chapter
vijayjeyakumar@ieee.org
Primary OrganizerDr. Lucas A Thomaz
Chair, SPS Student Services Committee
Dr. Venkateswaran N
Chair, IEEE SPS Madras Chapter
Dr. Brindha Swaminathan
Board of Governors, IEEE SSIT
Dr. Mita C. Paunwala
IEEE SPS Student Services Committee
Ms. T. Abirami
Vice Chair, IEEE SPS SSN Student Branch - 2025
Ms. Leelasri B
Chair, IEEE SPS SSN Student Branch - 2026
Resource Links
Official forms, registration and supporting documents for all teams.
Contact
Get in touch
For challenge-specific inquiries, please contact the organizing team.