How many days of indoor positioning system data are required to characterise typical movement behaviours of office workers?

Brett Pollard; Joe Van Buskirk; Lina Engelen; Fabian Held; Richard de Dear

doi:10.1016/j.apergo.2022.103915

How many days of indoor positioning system data are required to characterise typical movement behaviours of office workers?

Appl Ergon. 2023 Jan:106:103915. doi: 10.1016/j.apergo.2022.103915. Epub 2022 Oct 5.

Authors

Brett Pollard¹, Joe Van Buskirk², Lina Engelen², Fabian Held³, Richard de Dear⁴

Affiliations

¹ The University of Sydney, School of Public Health, Prevention Research Collaboration and Charles Perkins Centre, Sydney, 2006, Australia. Electronic address: bpol5709@uni.sydney.edu.au.
² The University of Sydney, School of Public Health, Prevention Research Collaboration and Charles Perkins Centre, Sydney, 2006, Australia.
³ The University of Sydney, Office of the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Education) - Enterprise and Engagement and Charles Perkins Centre, Sydney, 2006, Australia.
⁴ The University of Sydney, Indoor Environmental Quality Laboratory, School of Architecture, Design and Planning, Sydney, 2006, Australia.

PMID: 36208499
DOI: 10.1016/j.apergo.2022.103915

Abstract

Indoor Positioning Systems (IPS) appear to offer great potential to study the movement and interaction of people and their working environment, including office workplaces. But little is known about appropriate durations for data collection. In this study, location observations collected from 24 office workers on a 1220 m² office floor over a 3-month period, were analysed to determine how many days are required to estimate their typical movement and spatial behaviours. The analysis showed that up to 8 days of data was sufficient to characterise participants' typical daily movement behaviours and 10 days were required to estimate their typical spatial mobility. However, the results also indicate that 5 weeks of data collection are required to gather the necessary 10 days of data from each participant. These findings will help researchers and workplace professionals to understand the capabilities and requirements of IPS when considering their use in indoor work environments.

Keywords: Indoor positioning system; Occupant behaviour; Office; Physical inactivity; Spatial behaviour.

MeSH terms

Exercise*
Humans
Movement
Workplace*