The Activity Laboratory
The purpose of the activity laboratory is to develop technology and methods to support everyday activities in the home environment. The goal is for people with disabilities to be able to live a rich life for as long as possible. The activity laboratory therefore has new technology for studying activity to develop both technology, assessment methods and interventions.
The activity laboratory is used for both research and teaching on the assessment of needs and measures for people to function in their daily activities in the home environment. The Activity Lab also serves as an environment for testing, innovation, development and demonstration together with municipalities, regions, companies and interest groups.
The activity lab is designed as a next-generation "smart home" where as many parameters as possible around a person's activity can be monitored with different types of systems. In the lab there are passive systems that are integrated into the environment and active systems that are worn by the person. Together, all these technical devices provide a large amount of data that can be integrated into a data analysis and management system.
Where is the Activity Laboratory?
The activity laboratory is located at the Department of Health, Education and Technology at Luleå University of Technology. It is implemented in the training apartment (U119-U121) which is used for teaching mainly in occupational therapy and nursing.
What is in the Activity Laboratory?
The environment of the activity lab is adaptable to different needs. The apartment consists of a kitchen and living room, a bedroom and study, and a bathroom. The kitchen and bathroom are equipped with height-adjustable sections (sinks, cabinets and work surfaces). The bed in the bedroom is fully electrically adjustable. The workplace allows for ergonomic adaptation.
In addition, there are digital welfare technologies and assistive devices to support activities in the home environment. In the activity laboratory, the position, posture and vital physiological parameters of people can be monitored through various sensor systems and video.
What can be measured in the Activity Laboratory?
There are several systems for positioning people and objects in the environment, for example by active tracking of worn sensors or by passive tracking with ceiling-mounted sensor systems.
A video-based system can use fixed and moving cameras and microphones to follow people's activity in the environment, in order to capture experiments and learning situations on video, and to use this for distance learning and flexible learning.
In addition to this, there are several sensor systems, both fixed (passive) and portable (active), to monitor physiological parameters such as heart rate, respiration (breathing), movement (muscle activity), stress (skin conductance), eye movement (eye-tracking) and cerebral activity (the brain's electrical pattern).
Technical equipment
Vayyar
We have two UWB units from Vayyar, one in the bedroom and one in the living room / kitchen, which can most easily be described as an indoor radar that, like a bat, can form a spatial perception. It provides a passive position for several users and can assess whether they are lying down, sitting, standing or walking.
Z-Wave
Each electrical outlet has a unit that can control and measure electricity via Z-Wave. A central unit, the Vera Plus Controller, can then collect, present and control the information.
In all doors, for example in the kitchen cupboard doors, there are also binary units that detect whether these are open or closed. In addition to this, there are sensors for motion (IR), temperature, light, etc.
WideFind
This UWB-based system can position units with about 10 cm accuracy, which can be worn by a user or attached to or integrated into objects.
NUC
The ceiling contains three small computers, so-called Network Utility Computers (NUC), for collecting and processing data. Two are used for the Vayyar devices and one is used for WideFind and Z-Wave.
Shimmer
These sensors are worn by a user and can with high precision measure muscle movement (EMG), heart function (ECG), breathing (respiration), movement (3-axis accelerometers), stress (GSR), etc.
Tobii Pro Glasses 2
These glasses are designed to be able to capture what a user normally sees, through advanced eye-tracking.
Somnofy
This UWB unit encounters passive presence, movement, respiration, heart rate, snoring and sleep cycles. We have two units, one for the bed and one for an armchair in the living room.
Kardian
Kardian UWB units, like those from Vayyar and Somnofy, can detect presence and movement as well as falls, objects, respiration, apnea, etc.
B-Alert X10
This is a 10-channel system for measuring brain function (EEG), for example for measuring stress and cognitive abilities.
Oura Ring
This ring can actively measure activity and sleep.
Double Robotics
This is a small robot that is controlled via an iPad and mainly works to communicate with sound and image with a user in the activity laboratory.
MindSpace
This video system captures moving images from different positions in the activity laboratory, through mainly two types of cameras. Each room has a high-resolution motion camera that can be remotely controlled, which is complemented by most fixed cameras. Additional sources, such as an image from the Tobii glasses or a map image from a PC, can also be used. An image mixer can then select the source or mix them together into a matrix image (2x2, 3x3, 4x4). The ceiling also has microphones and speakers.
The video information can then be stored, such as documentation during experiments, or sent directly online for learning situations. For this, there is a transmission system from Cattura, which can be used with LTU's tools for teaching (Canvas).
iMotions
This system can collect, visualize and analyze data from various sensors that measure parameters such as EEG, ECG, EMG and GSR as well as eye-tracking.
System
Taken together, all of these technical devices provide a large amount of data that should be integrated into a data analysis and control system.
The control room therefore has two computers, one of which is used for the software from iMotions and the other is used for SensorCentral +, a database from Ulster University through the Remind project. We also have a dialogue with several companies about collaboration with commercial and academic platforms such as Tieto eSense SmartCare, SkyResponse, FIWARE, ArrowHead, etc.
Research in the Activity Laboratory
Research in the Activity Lab focuses on how everyday activities can be supported for people of different ages and life situations to promote lifelong health.
The activity laboratory can be used for advanced assessments of needs and problems in everyday activities. Assessment of abilities can then be increasingly moved from clinical settings to home environments, where subjective observations can be supplemented with objective data, and then carried out continuously instead of at a specific point in time.
The goal is to develop technologies and interventions that promote activity performance, independence and safety through user-friendly technology solutions and new methods that promote activity and participation. These interventions are used for the design of smart homes that promote independence and safety and support residents with an active and social life.
Interdisciplinary research environment
The development of the activity laboratory as a research and education environment is done in collaboration between the Department of Health, Education and Technology (HLT), the Department of Computer Science, Electrical and Space Engineering (SRT) and the Department of Social Sciences, Technology and Arts (ETKS). We have a close collaboration between the activity laboratory and the motion laboratory as well as the DEPICT laboratory, which has similar technologies.
Education in the Activity Laboratory
The activity lab environment supports multidisciplinary education. Examples of programs where teaching in the lab is included:
Occupational therapy
All semesters of the occupational therapy program include teaching moments in the lab.
Nursing
The nursing program includes teaching moments in the lab.
Computer science
Computer science includes elements in most courses.
Contact
Anneli Nyman
- Associate Professor, Head of Education degree in Occupational Therapy
- 0920-493888
- anneli.nyman@ltu.se
- Anneli Nyman
Johan Jirlén
- Senior Research Engineer
- 0920-491972
- johan.jirlen@ltu.se
- Johan Jirlén
Kåre Synnes
- Professor, Distinguished University Teacher
- 0920-491507
- kare.synnes@ltu.se
- Kåre Synnes
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