A Review on Computer Vision Technology for Physical Exercise Monitoring

Physical activity is movement of the body or part of the body to make muscles more active and to lose the energy from the body. Regular physical activity in the daily routine is very important to maintain good physical and mental health. It can be performed at home, a rehabilitation center, gym, etc., with a regular monitoring system. How long and which physical activity is essential for specific people is very important to know because it depends on age, sex, time, people that have specific diseases, etc. Therefore, it is essential to monitor physical activity either at a physical activity center or even at home. Physiological parameter monitoring using contact sensor technology has been practiced for a long time, however, it has a lot of limitations. In the last decades, a lot of inexpensive and accurate non-contact sensors became available on the market that can be used for vital sign monitoring. In this study, the existing research studies related to the non-contact and video-based technologies for various physiological parameters during exercise are reviewed. It covers mainly Heart Rate, Respiratory Rate, Heart Rate Variability, Blood Pressure, etc., using various technologies including PPG, Video analysis using deep learning, etc. This article covers all the technologies using non-contact methods to detect any of the physiological parameters and discusses how technology has been extended over the years. The paper presents some introductory parts of the corresponding topic and state of art review in that area.