The Use of Inertial Measurement Units for the Study of Free Living Environment Activity Assessment: A Literature Review

• Main Authors: Sylvain Jung, Mona Michaud, Laurent Oudre, Eric Dorveaux, Louis Gorintin, Nicolas Vayatis, Damien Ricard
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2020-10-01
• Series: Sensors
• Subjects: wearable sensors; IMUs; accelerometers; gyroscopes; physical activity; free-living environment
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/1424-8220/20/19/5625

This article presents an overview of fifty-eight articles dedicated to the evaluation of physical activity in free-living conditions using wearable motion sensors. This review provides a comprehensive summary of the technical aspects linked to sensors (types, number, body positions, and technical characteristics) as well as a deep discussion on the protocols implemented in free-living conditions (environment, duration, instructions, activities, and annotation). Finally, it presents a description and a comparison of the main algorithms and processing tools used for assessing physical activity from raw signals.