Wristband measures stress and provides biofeedback
At the 12th ITS European Conference in Strasbourg, France next week, Leti will demonstrate Bon Voyage, its stress monitoring device and smartphone app, designed to make every journey stress-free.
It is, says Leti, a technology research institute of CEA Tech, the world’s first wearable stress-monitoring device that enables customised recommendations for stress-free travel and indicators for improving public-transportation safety.
The non-invasive, stress monitor is a wristband device designed for lorry and train drivers, airline pilots and travellers. It enables real-time journey planning, specific to each traveller, surveying to improve transport and mobility comfort and safety, awareness of mobility wellness for specific social groups, such as the elderly, suggestions for new services and applications for transport agencies, and professional driver and pilot monitoring and biofeedback during training and practice.
The stress monitor uses sensors typically integrated into wearable items, to provide real-time data-fusion processing that automatically estimates each person’s stress levels regardless of their activity level.
It collects data with an embedded alogorithm and several miniature sensors, such as accelerometers, photoplethysmography sensors and electrodermal-activity sensors.
The databases for comparing results were built by Leti and the Laboratory of Psychology and NeuroCognition (LPNC) in Grenoble. The collected data is sent anonymously to the cloud where they can be used to improve both safety and comfort for users and, in some cases, for the general public. For example, transport agencies can collect and analyse passengers’ comfort information and take appropriate actions to eliminate potential problems, say the researchers. If customers experience higher stress than usual while getting off at a specific bus station, e.g. at a dangerous intersection, the agencies could follow up that finding with a study to verify the cause and provide a remedy.
The biofeedback from pilots, lorry and train drivers can also be used to improve safety. After graduating from simulators during training, to real equipment, wearing the device will signal stress levels and indicate if they should return to the simulator for more practice on certain aspects of their role.
The mobility observer differentiates between travel modes such as buses and motorbikes, trains and trams by preserving device autonomy. The goals are to automate such surveying and reduce costs for collecting and analysing data, and improve transportation access and services. The new connectivity features in the mobility observer enables transport staff to take into account a large amount of data rather than data collected on single individuals.
