Novel wireless device measures walking speed with ease

New York May 2 (IANS) Researchers at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have developed a device that can measure the walking speed of people with 95 to 99 per cent accuracy using wireless signals without requiring that the person wear or carry a sensor.

A growing body of research suggests that how fast one walks could tell a lot about health issues like cognitive decline falls and even certain cardiac or pulmonary diseases.

By measuring this emerging vital sign the new device called WiGait could help reveal a wealth of important health information particularly for the elderly.

A change in walking speed for example could mean an injury or that the person is at an increased risk of falling according to Professor Dina Katabi of MIT s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL).

The system presented in a new paper is an update of a device that Katabi s team developed earlier.

The size of a small painting the device can be placed on the wall of a person s house. It builds on Katabi s previous work that analyses wireless signals reflected off people s bodies to measure a range of behaviours from breathing and falling to specific emotions.

The signals emit roughly 100 times less radiation than a standard cellphone the researchers said.

By using in-home sensors we can see trends in how walking speed changes over longer periods of time said lead author and PhD student Chen-Yu Hsu.

This can provide insight into whether someone should adjust their health regimens whether that s doing physical therapy or altering their medications Hsu said.

The paper is scheduled to be presented at ACM s CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems to be held from May 6-11 in Colorado.

The new device may offer improvements over existing systems of measuring walking speed indoors.

Wearables like FitBit can only roughly estimate your speed based on your step count; GPS-enabled smartphones are similarly inaccurate and can t work indoors; and cameras are intrusive and can only monitor one room at a time.

WiGait is also 85 to 99 per cent accurate at measuring a person s stride length which could allow researchers to better understand conditions like Parkinson s disease that are characterised by reduced step size according to the researchers.

--IANS
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