Body area sensor network for evaluating fitness exercise

Abstract

The paper presents a wireless body area sensor network (BASN) for evaluating the effectiveness of fitness exercising. The goal of our work is to provide a mobile and an accurate way of quantifying the energy expenditure during a fitness exercise session. While energy expenditure estimates are available in modern exercise machines, no accurate method exists for outdoor exercising. The prototype system implemented includes an IEEE 802.15.4(Zigbee) based wireless body area sensor network which measures physiological and kinetic features related to the activity being monitored, and a mobile application for visualization of the estimated energy expenditure. The paper outlines the sensor hardware used, the body area network which collects the measurements from the sensor nodes, the algorithm for energy computation and experimental results. The system, once trained can be used with any form of outdoor exercise. The key contribution and novelty of the paper is the development of a mechanism to establish the hitherto unknown relationship between physiological and kinetic features and body metabolism through the BASN. Further, this relationship may be personalized to individual level with proper training.