Frequently Asked Questions

What is PulseFeedback?

PulseFeedback is a shared pulse experience. It reads your heart rate through your phone or laptop camera by detecting tiny color changes in your skin (a technique called photoplethysmography, or PPG). You can see your heartbeat visualized in real time alongside other participants.

What do the animations mean?

Everything on screen responds to real biometric data — your heartbeat, your breathing. When others join, the visuals blend together.

How does the camera read my pulse?

Every heartbeat pushes blood through your capillaries, causing subtle changes in skin color that are invisible to the naked eye but detectable by a camera. PulseFeedback sends camera frames to the VitalLens API which analyzes these micro-changes and extracts your pulse waveform.

Is my camera feed recorded or sent anywhere?

Camera frames are sent to the VitalLens API for pulse analysis and are not stored. No video is recorded or kept by PulseFeedback or VitalLens. Only your heart rate number is shared with other participants in your room.

Is this a medical device?

No. PulseFeedback is an art/experience project and is not a medical device. It should not be used for medical diagnosis or health monitoring. The readings are approximate and can be affected by lighting, movement, and skin tone.

Why does it need camera access?

The camera is the sensor. Without it, there's no way to detect your pulse. PulseFeedback uses only the front-facing camera and sends frames to the VitalLens API for analysis.

What data do you collect?

We use Plausible for privacy-friendly, cookie-free analytics (page views, referrers — no personal data). Your heart rate is shared ephemerally with others in the same room via a WebSocket connection, but nothing is stored. See our Privacy Policy for details.

Why isn't it detecting my pulse?

Make sure your face is well-lit (natural or indoor light, not backlit), centered in the frame, and keep still. It typically takes 5-10 seconds to get a first reading. Very dark environments or strong backlighting can prevent detection.

Does it work on all browsers?

PulseFeedback works best on Chrome, Safari, and Edge. Some browsers (like Brave) may require you to explicitly allow camera access in site settings.

What is Random Daily URLs?

PulseFeedback is project #19 in a series of 25 weekly projects by Random Daily URLs. Follow the journey on X.