Activity recognition with hand-worn magnetic sensors

Activity recognition is a key technology for realizing ambient assisted living applications such as care of the elderly and home automation. This paper proposes a new activity recognition method that employs hand-worn magnetic sensors to recognize a broad range of activities ranging from simple activities that involve hand movements such as walking and running to the use of portable electrical devices such as cell phones and cameras. We sense magnetic fields emitted by electrical devices and the earth with hand-worn sensors, and recognize what a user is doing or which electrical device the user is employing. We frequently use a large number of different electrical devices in our daily lives, and so we can estimate high-level daily activities by recognizing their use. Our approach permits us to recognize a range extending from low-level simple activities to high-level activities that relate to the hands without the need to attach any sensors to the electrical devices.