EMPD: An Event-based Multimodal Physiological Dataset for Remote Pulse Wave Detection

Abstract

Remote photoplethysmography (rPPG) based on traditional frame-based cameras often struggles with motion artifacts and limited temporal resolution. To address these limitations, we introduce EMPD (Event-based Multimodal Physiological Dataset), the first benchmark dataset specifically designed for non-contact physiological sensing via event cameras. The dataset leverages a laser-assisted acquisition system where a high-coherence laser modulates subtle skin vibrations from the radial artery into significant signals detectable by a neuromorphic sensor. The hardware platform integrates a high-resolution event camera to capture micro-motions and intensity transients, an industrial RGB camera to provide traditional rPPG benchmarks, and a clinical-grade pulse oximeter to record ground truth PPG waveforms. EMPD contains 193 valid records collected from 83 subjects, covering a wide heart rate range (40-110 BPM) under both resting and post-exercise conditions. By providing precisely synchronized multimodal data with microsecond-level temporal precision, EMPD serves as a crucial resource for developing robust algorithms in the field of neuromorphic physiological monitoring. The dataset is publicly available at: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.18765701