Design and Implementation of Nodding Recognition System Based on Chair Sway

In this paper, we propose a method to measure human head motion, especially nodding, without attaching any sensors to the person. Our proposed system focuses on the fact that the upper body moves along with nodding and that the body motion slightly shakes the chair. We challenge the problem of whether it is possible to recognize a nodding from the extremely slight sway of a chair. To reveal the optimal position of sensors, we collected data by attaching multiple accelerometers to various positions on a chair, including the backrest, the seat's underside, and the legs. Using a supervised learning approach, we determined the best positions and combinations of sensors for recognizing nodding more collectively. The Support Vector Machine (SVM) achieved a nodding recognition accuracy of 0.990. Further testing of the accuracy of nodding frequency measurements resulted in an accuracy of 0.947, suggesting that the best position for the accelerometer is the backrest. These results suggest that simply placing the accelerometer on the backrest can effectively quantify the nod frequency of seated participants.