Authors:
Nicole Buckingham
and
Denis Gračanin
Affiliation:
Department of Computer Science, Virginia Tech, 2202 Kraft Drive, Blacksburg, VA 24060, U.S.A.
Keyword(s):
Biosensors, Breathing Rate, Human Computer Interaction, Remote Sensing.
Abstract:
The cost of a medical grade breathing rate monitors can be prohibitive. However, commodity ultra-wideband (UWB) radar based device can be used to detect breathing rate for health monitoring applications in homes. We identified several research challenges, including high cost and functional limitations based on the user’s location, orientation, and movement, as well as dependency on system placement and vulnerabilities in signal processing methods. We performed a comparative evaluation for a commodity UWB radar based device, Walabot, to determine its feasibility for health monitoring applications. The data was processed using two breathing rate derivation techniques: Fast Fourier Transformation (FFT) and Peak Detection. The results support feasibility of Walabot as a commodity breathing rate monitor for health monitoring in homes.