Sensors found in consumer earphones can analyse how you sit down

What is it about?

Sitting down from a standing position is a key fundamental movement required for independent daily living - indeed, it is estimated that the average person performs around 60 of these per day. By observing and analysing how someone sits down, we can uncover a vast amount of information about their postural control and muscle strength capabilities. In turn, we can derive insights into their risk of falling, functional independence and age-related mobility decline. This paper outlines an armoury of approaches to analyse sitting down movements using sensors which are found widely in consumer devices such as earphones and hearing aids.

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Photo by Fenghua on Unsplash

Photo by Fenghua on Unsplash

Why is it important?

By outlining and validating methods to analyse sitting down movements using widely accessible consumer devices, we provide a first step towards monitoring these movements in daily life settings. This will allow an individual's functional capabilities to be tracked with minimal burden. When included as part of a wider system based on ear-worn sensors, we hope this will enable elderly or movement-impaired individuals to receive a more comprehensively-informed and individualised treatment plan to heighten their quality of life.