To overcome the limitations of smartphones and smartwatches in fitness monitoring, researchers at the Indian Institute of Technology Gandhinagar (IITGN) have developed a thermal camera on smartphones that they claim can accurately estimate calories burned by monitoring breathing rate. Developed a base system.
The research and innovation project is called JoulesEye. “Joule” refers to a unit of energy, while “eye” refers to a camera (inspired by a low-resolution thermal camera called GridEye). Rishiraj Adhikari, 30, said his research was also published in the December 2023 issue of IMWUT (Interactive, Mobile, Wearable and Ubiquitous Technologies) journal. The device was tested on 54 participants who performed high-intensity cycling and running activities.
IMWUT’s next international conference is scheduled for October in Melbourne, where a presentation on JoulesEye will be held, he added.
IMWUT is a journal published by the Association for Computing Machinery, covering technologies, disciplines, and categories related to computer networks and communications, hardware and architecture, and human-computer interaction. The Association for Computing Machinery is the world’s largest educational and scientific computing association.
Speaking to The Indian Express about the background of the research project, Adhikary, a research fellow in IITGN’s Department of Computer Science and Engineering, said, “The research project is based on the concept of computer science and engineering. The two most common metrics that users pay attention to while exercising are heart rate and calories. Cell phones and watches are very good at measuring heart rate, but calories are quite inaccurate. ”
“One of the most accurate ways to know how many calories you burn is to use indirect calorimeters. However, they are very expensive, bulky to use, and almost impossible to carry. “Another metric to think about is respiration. But apart from a rough estimate of rest, respiration signals have almost completely disappeared from consumer devices,” he emphasizes.
“Calorie expenditure (or energy expenditure estimates) on commercially available smartwatches have an error of over 40%. Our study confirmed these findings. We found that cycling and running activities We tested our system JoulesEye on 54 participants (25-54 years old) who conducted a It was found to be just 5.8, further explains Adhikary, who completed his PhD from IITGN in 2019. He did his undergraduate degree from Gauhati University in Assam.
The pilot research was conducted in the SMASH Laboratory at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) in Pittsburgh, USA, during Mr. Adhikary’s tenure as a Fulbright Scholar from August 2022 to May 2023, and was conducted by CMU Professor Mayank Goel. and conducted by Professor Nipun Batra of Gandhinagar Institute of Technology. They were his advisors on this project.
The findings reveal that ultra-low-resolution thermal cameras small enough to fit on watches and other wearable devices are sufficient to accurately estimate calorie expenditure. The results suggest that JoulesEye is a promising new method for accurate and reliable calorie expenditure estimation, he added.
JouleEye is a thermal imaging-based approach to measuring respiration and calorie expenditure. A thermal camera is used to observe temperature changes within the nostrils. He explains that he uses signal processing and his AI to extract respiration and calorie expenditure from temperature changes.
A JoulesEye smartwatch prototype was developed, and a low-resolution thermal camera was designed with cost, size, and battery considerations in mind.
“Even with very low-resolution thermal images, we can extract breathing rate from temperature changes within the nostrils. Currently, users have to look at their watches for more than 40 seconds. We are working to shorten it,” the researchers summarized.
