Real-time monitoring of user physical activity and position in an outdoor public space

A primary aim of the ProFit FieldLab project is to encourage physical activity through innovations in products, services and ICT systems. User interactions with newly installed prototype play and exercise equipment within a FieldLab needs to be monitored so that its value and effectiveness can be assessed. Real-time feedback of activity level and location is important to associate user activity with specific pieces of equipment and video capture data. However, there is no current off-the-shelf solution for this. The aim of this study was to create a low-cost, real-time activity and location monitoring system based around a smartphone. The system incorporates accelerometer, heart rate, GPS and Wi-Fi RSSI values. Initial testing of the system has shown that user activity level and movement on a specific item of play equipment in the Delft FieldLab can be recorded alongside targeted video capture.