Wearable Computer System Research Articles

Situation identification in smart wearable computing systems based on machine learning and Context Space Theory

Wearable devices and smart sensors are increasingly adopted to monitor the behaviors of human and artificial agents. Many applications rely on the capability of such devices to recognize daily life activities performed by the monitored users in order to tailor their behaviors with respect to the occurring situations. Despite the constant evolution of smart sensing technologies and the numerous research in this field, an accurate recognition of in-the-wild situations still represents an open research challenge. This work proposes a novel approach for situation identification capable of recognizing the activities and the situations in which they occur in different environments and behavioral contexts, processing data acquired by wearable and environmental sensors.An architecture of a situation-aware wearable computing system is proposed, inspired by Endsley’s situation-awareness model, consisting of a two-step approach for situation identification. The approach first identifies the daily life activities via a learning-based technique. Simultaneously, the context in which the activities are performed is recognized using Context Space Theory. Finally, the fusion between the context state and the activities allows identifying the complex situations in which the user is acting. The knowledge regarding the situations forms the basis on which novel and smarter applications can be realized.The approach has been evaluated on the ExtraSensory public dataset and compared with state-of-the-art techniques, achieving an accuracy of 96% for the recognition of situations and with significantly low computational time, demonstrating the efficacy of the two-step situation identification approach.

Fiber-Shaped Cu-Ion Diffusive Memristor for Neuromorphic Computing

Fiber-shaped memristors have attracted enormous attention as potential wearable electronics. Here, a Cu-ion diffusive memristor with fiber shape was proposed for artificial synapse and neuromorphic computing. The fiber-shaped diffusive memristor exhibits gradual conductance modulation characteristics under consecutive voltage sweeps. Typical synaptic plasticity including EPSC, PPF, PPD, LTP/LTD and learning behaviors were all successfully achieved by the memristor. The active Cu <sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2+</sup> of diffusive memristor was similar as Ca <sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2+</sup> diffusion in biological synapse, which is the basis of realizing the functions of synaptic plasticity. The fiber-shaped Cu <sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2+</sup> diffusive memristor acting as artificial synapse paves the way for next-generation wearable neuromorphic computing system.

Forecasting the Weather and its Visualization using Augmented Reality

-In the recent period, many real-world applications and institutions generates a huge amount of data which is unstructured i.e., in the form of images containing data, receipts, invoices, forms, statements, contracts etc. This rich and detailed information presented in the text is of great significance in computer vision-based applications (driverless cars, assisting blind and visually impaired people, detecting labels and packages, automatic number plate recognition etc.). Recently, there has been a hike in the efforts, This project presents AR Weather, a simulation application, which can simulate three types of precipitation: rain, snow, and hail. We examined a range of weather phenomenon and how they may be simulated in a mobile augmented reality system. AR Weather was developed and deployed on the Tinmith wearable computer system to enable autonomous and free movement for the user. The user can move freely inside the simulated weather without limitation. The result of this work, the AR Weather application, has been evaluated with a user study to determine the user’s acceptance and draw conclusions to the applicability of augmented reality simulated weather Keywords- Mobile augmented reality, environmental sensor networks, mobile visualization

Smart Helmet for Coal Mining

The Coal Mining Helmet designed on this paper aims to offer protection to miners through alerting them. All the elements may be referred to only if the person is carrying the helmet. The output from the helmet module continues updating every instance i.e., actual time information is been updated to the cloud. These wearable gadgets get to share their information or retrieve the information thru different source through using internet of things (IOT). Alerts are sent to the miner and the supervisor if any hazard is detected. Ubiquitous computing and wearable computer systems have contributed extremely to the evolution of wearable gadgets. Thus, this wearable device consists of the diverse sensors, alerting mechanism and communication system to broaden and enhance protection of the miner. The hardware incorporates of information collection, data processing and data communication sections. Sensors employed a) Temperature and humidity sensor (DHT11): In mines, the extent of temperature and humidity will become excessive at instances and prove to be fatal to the miner. The liberation of those gases should result in respiratory trouble to the person within the mines and could result in choking. If one or extra of these portions exceed the threshold limit, an alert is sent to the miner as well as the base Authorizer. The data collection or measuring of the parameters is achieved using WSN technology. WSN technology is a network of sensors, in which each of the sensors has unique parameters to sense but carry out collectively as part of the system. The level of temperature and humidity is understood to the miner through showing it on an OLED (Organic LED) and for the gas a threshold is set and a buzzer alert is given if it's far past the threshold.

Situation-Aware Sensor-Based Wearable Computing Systems: A Reference Architecture-Driven Review

In the last fifteen years, there has been a widespread diffusion of wearable sensorized devices for a plethora of applications in heterogeneous domains. Wearable technology provides fundamental capabilities such as smart sensing, monitoring, data recording, and multi-modal interaction, in a seamless, pervasive, and easy-to-use way. An emerging research trend is the definition of situation-aware wearable computing systems, i.e., wearable devices able to perceive and understand what is happening in the environment in order to adapt their behavior and anticipate users’ needs, a capability known as situation awareness. Although the increasing interest of the research community in situation-aware wearable devices, there is a lack of studies, formal models, methodological approaches, and theoretical groundings on which these systems can be grounded. As a result, a very limited number of smart sensors (physical or virtual) capable of effectively and efficiently supporting Situation Awareness have been proposed so far. In this article, we provide a survey and a classification of state-of-the-art situation-aware wearable systems, outlining current research trends, shortcomings, and challenges, with an emphasis on the models, approaches, and computational techniques of situation awareness and wearable computing on which they are based. The survey has been performed using the PRISMA methodology for systematic reviews. The analysis has been conducted with respect to a reference architecture, namely SA-WCS, of a generic situation-aware wearable computing system that we propose in this article, grounded on Endsley’s model of Situation Awareness. Such reference architecture not only provides a systematic framework for the comparison and categorization of the works, it also aims to promote the development of the next generation WCS.

Parylene-based memristive crossbar structures with multilevel resistive switching for neuromorphic computing

Currently, there is growing interest in wearable and biocompatible smart computing and information processing systems that are safe for the human body. Memristive devices are promising for solving such problems due to a number of their attractive properties, such as low power consumption, scalability, and the multilevel nature of resistive switching (plasticity). The multilevel plasticity allows memristors to emulate synapses in hardware neuromorphic computing systems (NCSs). The aim of this work was to study Cu/poly-p-xylylene(PPX)/Au memristive elements fabricated in the crossbar geometry. In developing the technology for manufacturing such samples, we took into account their characteristics, in particular stable and multilevel resistive switching (at least 10 different states) and low operating voltage (<2 V), suitable for NCSs. Experiments on cycle to cycle (C2C) switching of a single memristor and device to device (D2D) switching of several memristors have shown high reproducibility of resistive switching (RS) voltages. Based on the obtained memristors, a formal hardware neuromorphic network was created that can be trained to classify simple patterns.

Adaptive Partition of ECG Diagnosis Between Cloud and Wearable Sensor Net Using Open-Loop and Closed-Loop Switch Mode

Remote electrocardiogram (ECG) diagnosis with continuous real-time or near-real-time performance via a wireless wearable computing system would have significant value since it will enable on-time alerts and interventions, leading to life-saving outcomes. In this paper, a novel integration of open-loop and closed-loop switch modes is proposed, where the entire ECG diagnosis process is accomplished in three steps. First, the R-peak detection algorithm for initial diagnosis in local devices is executed, and 100% of the transmission energy is saved when no abnormality is detected. Second, in the case of an abnormality being detected, the edge device performs two-dimensional convolution neural network (2D-CNN) classification on the ECG signals, leading to either open-loop or closed-loop mode transmission based on the seriousness of the ECG signals. Third, in the cloud server, the received ECG signals may be further analyzed with a more sophisticated classification algorithm. The ECG classification accuracy ranges from 92.7 % to 99.1% depending on whether the analysis is executed locally (with reduced communication costs) or remotely (with increased computing resources). Overall, the ECG diagnosis process is partitioned into three components, including 1) irregular heartbeat detection, 2) 2-D CNN classification in the edge device, and 3) further classification in the cloud. The simulation results of such partition of ECG diagnosis in these layers supervised by the open-loop and closed-loop switch modes have demonstrated that the proposed system architecture can achieve efficient ECG diagnosis via wearable technologies with both reliable accuracies and reduced communication energy.

Forming-free flexible memristor with multilevel storage for neuromorphic computing by full PVD technique

Flexible resistive random access memory (RRAM) has shown great potential in wearable electronics. With tunable multilevel resistance states, flexible memristors could be used to mimic the bio-synapses for constructing high-efficient wearable neuromorphic computing system. However, the flexible substrate has intrinsic disadvantages including low-temperature tolerance and poor complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) compatibility, which limit the development of flexible electronics. The physical vapor deposition (PVD) fabrication process could prepare RRAM without requirement of further treatment, which greatly simplified preparation steps and reduced the production costs. On the other hand, forming process, as a common pre-programing operation in RRAM, increases the energy consumption and limits the application scenarios of RRAM. Here, a NiO-based forming-free RRAM with low set voltage was fabricated via full PVD technique. The flexible device exhibited reliable resistive switching characteristics under flat state even compressive and tensile states (R = 10 mm). The tunable multilevel resistance states (5 levels) could be obtained by controlling the compliance current. Besides, synaptic plasticities also were verified in this device. The flexible NiO-based RRAM shows great potential in wearable forming-free multibit memory and neuromorphic computing electronics.

Three-Dimensional Nanoscale Flexible Memristor Networks with Ultralow Power for Information Transmission and Processing Application

To construct an artificial intelligence system with high efficient information integration and computing capability like the human brain, it is necessary to realize the biological neurotransmission and information processing in artificial neural network (ANN), rather than a single electronic synapse as most reports. Because the power consumption of single synaptic event is ∼10 fJ in biology, designing an intelligent memristors-based 3D ANN with energy consumption lower than femtojoule-level (e.g., attojoule-level) and faster operating speed than millisecond-level makes it possible for constructing a higher energy efficient and higher speed computing system than the human brain. In this paper, a flexible 3D crossbar memristor array is presented, exhibiting the multilevel information transmission functionality with the power consumption of 4.28 aJ and the response speed of 50 ns per synaptic event. This work is a significant step toward the development of an ultrahigh efficient and ultrahigh-speed wearable 3D neuromorphic computing system.

Recent Advances on Wearable Electronics and Embedded Computing Systems for Biomedical Applications

The application of wearable electronics in the biomedical research and commercial fields has been gaining great interest over the last several decades.[...]

WUSB over WBAN 통신을 위한 신체 영역 위치 인식 기술

ABSTRACT In this Paper, we propose a body-area localization technique based on WUSB (Wireless USB) over WBAN (Wireless Body Area Networks) protocol required for wearable computer systems. The proposed localization algorithm is executed on the basis of WUSB over WBAN protocol at each sensor node comprising peripherals of a wearable computer system. To increase the accuracy of input information through various body motions in wearable computer systems, a new localization technique with high precision must be developed. To achieve the goal, This paper proposes a combined TDoA/FDoA/AoA (Time Of Arrival/Time Difference Of Arrival/Angle Of Arrival) localization technique with more than four WUSB over WB AN devices to estimate body-area location accurately. The combined TDoA/FDoA/AoA technique reduces 10mm in location estimation errors comparing with a combined TDoA/FDoA technique. This performance enhancement in location error reduction can be ignored at other systems but is meaningful results in body-area localization-based communications.

Artificial Skin

This article presents a brief overview of advent and future of the concept of artificial skin. Sensorized electronic skins are an essential element in wearable computing and co-robotic systems that engage in physical interaction with humans. Wearable computing is a rapidly growing sub-domain in the electronics industry and has the potential to transform how we work, play, get information, and interact with others. Due to its close connection to personal electronics and fashion, artificial skin technologies represent a good opportunity for science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) outreach at the middle- and high-school levels. Wearable technology is a promising path to STEM education, since it is relevant to the daily experiences of teens and pre-teens, regardless of their social, cultural, and economic background. Middle-school students are an especially appropriate target, since they have adequate intellectual preparation for hardware prototyping but are still at the earliest stages of developing their academic interests.

Wearable Computer Network Design using Dual-Role WUSB Clustering

A recent major development in computer technology is the advent of the wearable computer system that is based on human-centric interface technology trends and ubiquitous computing environments. Wearable computer systems can be integrated with the wireless universal serial bus (WUSB) that refers to USB technology that is merged with WiMedia PHY/MAC technical specifications. A wireless body area network (WBAN) allows the integration of intelligent, miniaturized, low-power sensor nodes that monitor body functions and the surrounding environment. In this paper, we propose a method for multi-hop network extension of WUSB over WBAN protocol. Unlike a wired USB that physically separates the USB host and USB device, WUSB allows a device to separately function as both a WUSB host and WUSB device on a single transceiver; such devices are referred to as the dual role devices (DRD). By using this DRD function of WUSB protocol, we propose a WUSB clustering method to realize the multi-hop network extension of WUSB over WBAN protocol in wireless home networks. In the WUSB clustering method, a new DRD message format reserves 2-hop range private DRP (Distributed Reservation Protocol) resources. In the experiment results, efficiency of the WUSB clustering method is proven through throughput evaluation in viewpoints of medical and nonmedical multi-hop WBAN services.

실용적 웨어러블 컴퓨터 품질평가모델

스마트폰 시장이 성숙기에 들어서면서 새로운 성장동력으로 웨어러블 컴퓨터가 주목받고 있다. 웨어러블 컴퓨팅 시스템은 무선 네트워크 기술, 임베디드 기술, 센서 기술, 신소재 기술 등 다양한 기술의 복합적인 융합체이다. 이러한 특징들은 기존의 소프트웨어가 가지고 있는 품질특성 이외에 활용성, 이동성 등의 특성을 내포하고 있기 때문에 국제표준인 ISO/IEC 9126의 표준만으로 정확한 품질 평가를 하기에는 어려움이 따른다. 본 논문에서는 이러한 필요성에 따라 기존의 ISO/IEC 9126과 웨어러블 컴퓨팅의 특징에 의해 도출된 품질특성을 추가해 웨어러블 컴퓨터 품질평가모델을 제안하였다. 웨어러블 컴퓨터 품질평가모델의 개발을 위해 웨어러블 컴퓨터의 기능적 요구사항과 품질특성을 도출하여 메트릭과 품질 기준을 제안하였다. 본 연구에서는 시나리오에 제안된 모델을 적용하고 S사, L사, G사의 웨어러블 기기의 품질을 비교하여 품질평가모델의 실용성을 확인하였다. 본 연구에서 제안한 평가모델은 웨어러블 컴퓨터의 품질평가를 위한 가이드라인으로 활용할 수 있을 것으로 기대된다. Recently, the progress of smart phone market has retarded by oversupply therefore wearable computer has been the focus of new growth engine. Wearable computing system is a complex fusion of a variety of technologies such as wireless network, embedded, sensor and new material. Because these technologies involves utilization and mobility in addition to quality characteristic in existing software, application of ISO/IEC 9126 is not perfect when assessing quality of wearable computer. In this study, author suggested new quality assessment model for wearable computer by sorting quality attribute in ISO/IEC 9126 and adding new quality attribute. For this, author investigated features and functional requirements related to wearable computer. and then author suggested quality standard and metrics by identifying quality characteristic. Author confirmed practicality of quality assessment model by using suggested model in scenario and comparing quality assessment of three goods such as company S, L, G. This quality assessment model is expected to use guidelines for assessing quality of wearable computer.

WUSB over IEEE 802.15.6 WBAN 프로토콜의 시각 동기 구조 설계

ABSTRACT Wearable computer systems can use the wireless universal serial bus (WUSB) that refers to USB technology that is merged with WiMedia PHY/MAC technical specifications. In this paper, we focus on an integrated system of the wireless USB over the IEEE 802.15.6 wireless body area networks (WBAN) for wireless wearable computer systems supporting U-health services. And a communication structure that performs the time-synchronization is proposed for WUSB over IEEE 802.15.6 hierarchical protocol. Proposed time-synchronization mechanisms adopt the WBAN Polling Access and combine it with a time-synchronization middleware using time stamps. In our performance evaluations, time-synchronization performances with only WBAN Polling Access scheme are analyzed first. After that, performances combined with the time-synchronization middleware are analyzed to evaluate the effectiveness of proposed time-synchronization structure in WUSB over IEEE 802.15.6. 키워드 : 무선인체통신, 무선홈네트워크, 무선USB, 웨어러블컴퓨터, 유-헬스

WUSB over IEEE 802.15.6 통합 MAC 프로토콜의 Hibernation 구조 설계

웨어러블 컴퓨터 시스템은 WiMedia PHY/MAC 기술과 결합된 USB 기술로 WUSB (wireless universal serial bus) 기술을 사용하여 구성할 수 있다. 본 논문은 U-Health 기능을 지원하는 무선 웨어러블 컴퓨터시스템을 구성하기 위해 WUSB기술과 IEEE 802.15.6 WBAN (wireless body area networks) 기술을 결합한 통신시스템 구조에 초점을 맞추었다. 그리고 IEEE 802.15.6 기반 WUSB 통신 구조에서 저전력 Hibernation 통신 구조를 제안하였다. 제안하는 Hibernation 구조는 WBAN Wakeup Period 및 Wakeup Phase 메시지 필드들을 사용하여, WBAN의 주기적인 Inactive 구간에서 WUSB 통신 구간을 할당한다. 성능 평가에서는 WBAN Wakeup Period에 따른 성능 및 WUSB 통신량에 따른 성능을 비교분석하여, WUSB over IEEE 802.15.6 통신구조에서 제안한 Hibernation 구조의 효율성을 평가하였다. Wearable computer systems can use the wireless universal serial bus (WUSB) that refers to USB technology that is merged with WiMedia PHY/MAC technical specifications. In this paper, we focus on an integrated system of the wireless USB over the IEEE 802.15.6 wireless body area networks (WBAN) for wireless wearable computer systems supporting U-health services. And a communication structure that performs the hibernation for low power consumption is proposed for WUSB over IEEE 802.15.6 hierarchical protocol. In the proposed hibernation mechanisms, WUSB communications are permitted at each m-periodic inactive periods of WBAN superframes by using the WBAN information of Wakeup Period and Wakeup Phase message fields. In our performance evaluations, performances according to amount of WUSB traffic and Wakeup Periods are analyzed respectively to evaluate the effectiveness of proposed hibernation structure in WUSB over IEEE 802.15.6.

IEEE 802.15.6 표준 기반 무선 USB 서비스의 차등화된 WBAN 트래픽 QoS 제공 방안

최근 컴퓨터 기술의 발전으로 웨어러블 컴퓨터 기술이 개발되고 있다. 이는 HCI (human-centric interface)기술과 유비쿼터스 컴퓨팅 기술을 기반으로 한다. 웨어러블 컴퓨터 시스템은 WiMedia PHY/MAC 기술과 결합된 USB 기술로 WUSB (wireless universal serial bus) 기술을 사용하여 구성할 수 있다. 본 논문은 U-Health 기능을 지원하는 무선 웨어러블 컴퓨터시스템을 구성하기 위해 WUSB기술과 IEEE 802.15.6 WBAN (wireless body area networks) 기술을 결합한 통신시스템 구조에 초점을 맞추었다. 그리고 IEEE 802.15.6 기반 WUSB 통신 구조에서 서로 다른 전송 우선 순위를 갖는 U-health WBAN 트래픽 및 WUSB트래픽의 QoS를 차등화하기 위한 통신 구조를 제안하였다. 제안내용 및 성능 평가에서는 단일 클래스 및 다중 클래스 환경에서 U-health WBAN 및 WUSB 트래픽의 수율 성능을 분석하여, WUSB over IEEE 802.15.6 통신구조에서 QoS 차등화 효율성을 평가하였다. A recent major development in computer technology is the advent of the wearable computer system that is based on human-centric interface technology trends and ubiquitous computing environments. Wearable computer systems can use the wireless universal serial bus (WUSB) that refers to USB technology that is merged with WiMedia PHY/MAC technical specifications. In this paper, we focus on an integrated system of the wireless USB over the IEEE 802.15.6 wireless body area networks (WBAN) for wireless wearable computer systems supporting U-health services. And a communication structure that can differentiate QoS of U-health WBAN and WUSB traffic with different priorities is proposed for WUSB over IEEE 802.15.6 hierarchical protocol. In our proposal and performance evaluation, throughputs of U-health WBAN and WUSB traffic are analyzed under single and multiple QoS classes to evaluate the effectiveness of proposed QoS differentiating structure in WUSB over IEEE 802.15.6.

A Hierarchical MAC Protocol for QoS Support in Wireless Wearable Computer Systems

A recent major development in computer technology is the advent of wearable computer systems. Wearable computer systems employ a wireless universal serial bus (WUSB), which refers to a combination of USB with the WiMedia wireless technical specifications. In this study, we focus on an integrated system of WUSB over wireless body area networks (WBANs) for wireless wearable computer systems. However, current WBAN MACs do not have well-defined quality of service (QoS) mapping and resource allocation mechanisms to support multimedia streams with the requested QoS parameters. To solve this problem, we propose a novel QoS-aware time slot allocation method. The proposed method provides fair and adaptive QoS provisioning to isochronous streams according to current traffic loads and their requested QoS parameters by executing a QoS satisfaction algorithm at the WUSB/WBAN host. The simulation results show that the proposed method improves the efficiency of time slot utilization while maximizing QoS provisioning.

Clock skew compensator for wireless wearable computer systems

Wearable computer systems can use the wireless universal serial bus (WUSB) that refers to USB technology that is merged with WiMedia PHY/MAC technical specifications. In this paper, we focus on an integrated system of the wireless USB over the IEEE 802.15.6 wireless body area networks (WBAN) for wireless wearable computer systems supporting U-health services. This paper proposes a clock skew compensator to allow offset and skew compensations to be processed simultaneously. Our skew compensator can be easily integrated with traditional offset compensation schemes. The results of simulation and experiment show that the accuracy of time synchronization can be greatly improved through our skew compensation algorithm.

New Associate Editor

The Editor-in-Chief welcomes Prof. Brian Otis to the Journal's editorial board as an Associate Editor. He comes with extensive experience in low-power wireless chip design, sensor interfaces, MEMS, and chips for wearable computing and biomedical interface systems. A brief biography of Prof. Otis is given highlighting his professional achievements. Dr. Roland Thewes has retired from serving as an Associate Editor. We thank him for his work for the Journal.