Wearable sensor could help provide a ‘dashboard’ for human resource health

A new product being developed by researchers from Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Pittsburgh could lead to a situation where companies can proactively monitor the health of employees; enabling early intervention in situations where critical members of staff are showing signs of stress and stress-related illness.

The human resource ‘systems monitoring’ device is termed the ‘eWatch’. It is a multi-sensor package about the size of a large wristwatch and has been developed by Daniel Siewiorek, director of the Human-Computer Interaction Institute in Carnegie Mellon’s School of Computer Science, and Asim Smailagic, research professor in Carnegie Mellon’s College of Engineering.

Studies have determined that people who report highly stressful lifestyles may develop higher rates of a variety of illnesses, ranging from viral infection to heart disease, but measuring exposure to stress is problematic. The eWatch, which can sense sound, motion, ambient light, skin temperature and other factors that provide clues about the wearer’s location, health status and current activity is expected to make stress measurement more accurate.

•Date: 19th October 2007• Region: World •Type: Article •Topic: BC general
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