It can be measured very simply with an optical sensor on the finger or, if an ECG is measured, derived directly from it. Today’s common pulse watches and fitness trackers also provide a pulse rate.

However, this is very inaccurate because these devices sometimes skip beats. This is sufficient for fitness tracking but leads to artifacts in experiments and may cause misinterpretation.

• Significance for the emotional intensity: high
• Informative value on the kind of emotion: low
• Informative value on the mental workload: low
• Effort: extractable via a pulse oximeter (finger clip) or from an ECG