Preferred Placement and Usability of a Smart Textile System vs. Inertial Measurement Units for Activity Monitoring

Wearable sensors and systems have become increasingly popular in recent years. Two prominent wearable technologies for human activity monitoring are smart textile systems (STSs) and inertial measurement units (IMUs). Despite ongoing advances in both, the usability aspects of these devices require fu...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Sensors (Basel, Switzerland) Switzerland), 2018-08, Vol.18 (8), p.2501
Main Authors: Mokhlespour Esfahani, Mohammad Iman, Nussbaum, Maury A
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Female
Humans
inertial measurement unit
Male
Monitoring
Monitoring, Physiologic - methods
Movement
placement
Posture
Running
smart shirt
smart socks
smart textile system
Socks
Textiles
Underwear
Usability
Walking
Wearable Electronic Devices
wearable sensor
Wearable technology
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Summary:Wearable sensors and systems have become increasingly popular in recent years. Two prominent wearable technologies for human activity monitoring are smart textile systems (STSs) and inertial measurement units (IMUs). Despite ongoing advances in both, the usability aspects of these devices require further investigation, especially to facilitate future use. In this study, 18 participants evaluate the preferred placement and usability of two STSs, along with a comparison to a commercial IMU system. These evaluations are completed after participants engaged in a range of activities (e.g., sitting, standing, walking, and running), during which they wear two representatives of smart textile systems: (1) a custom smart undershirt (SUS) and commercial smart socks; and (2) a commercial whole-body IMU system. We first analyze responses regarding the usability of the STS, and subsequently compared these results to those for the IMU system. Participants identify a short-sleeved shirt as their preferred activity monitor. In additional, the SUS in combination with the smart socks is rated superior to the IMU system in several aspects of usability. As reported herein, STSs show promise for future applications in human activity monitoring in terms of usability.
ISSN:1424-8220
1424-8220
DOI:10.3390/s18082501