Activity Recognition using Head Worn Inertial Sensors

Human activity recognition using inertial sensors is an increasingly used feature in smartphones or smartwatches, providing information on sports and physical activities of each individual. But while the position a smartphone is worn in varies between persons and circumstances, a smartwatch moves constantly, in rhythm with its user's arms. Both problems make activity recognition less reliable. Attaching an inertial sensor to the head provides reliable information on the movements of the whole body while not being superimposed by many additional movements. This can be achieved by fixing sensors to glasses, helmets, or headphones. In this paper, we present a system using head-mounted inertial sensors for human activity recognition. We compare it to existing research work and show possible advantages or disadvantages of positioning a single sensor on the head to recognize physical activities. Furthermore we evaluate the benefits of using different sensor configurations on activity recognition.