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The design of the SensVest

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Abstract

The SensVest is an item of wearable technology that measures, records and transmits aspects of human physical performance such as heart rate, temperature and movement. The SensVest has been designed for use by science teachers and students to meet their requirements. This paper reports the stages undertaken to design the SensVest, from determining appropriate methods of assessing human performance, to considerations of mounting the technology on the body. Trials have shown that concessions need to be made with ease of use and cost to ensure that the data collected is reliable and usable, with an awareness of the sensors’ limitations. By designing the SensVest with the wearer in mind a system has been developed that is comfortable, does not inhibit normal performance and is wearable. User trials have shown that meaningful, reliable and useful data can be collected using the SensVest.

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Notes

  1. The Lab of Tomorrow project is a European project with partners from Greece, Germany, Italy, Austria and England. The aim of the project is to develop technologies that can be used to enhance the learning experience. Specifically, the aim is to measure scientific variables from everyday activities, which can be used as the basis of science lessons.

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Acknowledgements

The work reported in this paper was supported by a EU Grant reference IST-2000-25076 “Lab of Tomorrow”. The authors would like to acknowledge the work and help of S. Baber who constructed the first SensVest and C. M. Knight who developed the final version of the vest for the SensVest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Electronic, Electrical and Computer Engineering, School of Engineering, The University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham, B15 2TT, UK

    James F. Knight, Anthony Schwirtz, Chris Baber, Huw W. Bristow & Theodoros N. Arvanitis

  2. ANCO S.A. R&D Division, 44, Syngrou Avenues, 117 42, Athens, Greece

    Fotis Psomadelis

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  1. James F. Knight
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  2. Anthony Schwirtz
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  3. Fotis Psomadelis
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  4. Chris Baber
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  5. Huw W. Bristow
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  6. Theodoros N. Arvanitis
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Correspondence to James F. Knight.

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Knight, J.F., Schwirtz, A., Psomadelis, F. et al. The design of the SensVest. Pers Ubiquit Comput 9, 6–19 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00779-004-0269-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00779-004-0269-8

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