Initializing the weights of a multilayer perceptron for activity and emotion recognition

Abstract

Conducting an analysis of human behavior is an intriguing topic for many researchers. Within this field, machine learning can be applied to classify activities and emotions by analyzing physiological signals. However, the limited size of available databases poses challenges for the generalization of classifiers. This paper proposes a method to enhance the generalization of neural network-based classifiers by intelligently initializing weights for emotion and activity recognition. The signals under consideration are electrocardiogram, thoracic electrical bioimpedance, and electrodermal activity. The database used comprises recordings from 40 subjects performing various tasks that induce emotions and activities. The performance of the proposed method is compared with several standard machine learning and deep learning classifiers typically employed in emotion and activity recognition. This study involves two primary assessments. First is the activity recognition task, encompassing classes such as neutral, emotional, mental, and physical activity, where results close to 20% accuracy are achieved using the three physiological signals. Second, the emotion recognition assessment aims to differentiate between emotions like neutral, sadness, and disgust. An error probability close to 15% is obtained using thoracic electrical bioimpedance and electrodermal activity. The proposed method yields the best results among the approaches evaluated.