An Unobtrusive Stress Recognition System for the Smart Office

Annu Int Conf IEEE Eng Med Biol Soc. 2019 Jul:2019:1326-1329. doi: 10.1109/EMBC.2019.8856597.

Abstract

This paper presents a novel approach to monitor office workers' behavioral patterns and heart rate variability. We integrated an EMFi sensor into a chair to measure the pressure changes caused by a user's body movements and heartbeat. Then, we employed machine learning methods to develop a classification model through which different work behaviors (body moving, typing, talking and browsing) could be recognized from the sensor data. Subsequently, we developed a BCG processing method to process the data recognized as `browsing' and further calculate heart rate variability. The results show that the developed model achieved classification accuracies of up to 91% and the HRV could be calculated effectively with an average error of 5.77ms. By combining these behavioral and physiological measures, the proposed approach portrays work-related stress in a more comprehensive manner and could contribute an unobtrusive early stress detection system for future smart offices.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Algorithms*
  • Heart Rate
  • Humans
  • Monitoring, Physiologic*
  • Movement*
  • Pressure