Technology
Passive wearable sensing for human performance research.
CRITTER is a wearable research platform in development. This page describes what we are investigating, how we are approaching it, and where the work stands today.
The Hypothesis
A research question, not a product claim.
We hypothesize that passively collected physiological signals (for example heart rate, skin conductance, and skin temperature) from a body-worn device may help estimate changes in a person's physiological state, such as workload or stress response, in ways that could support human performance and human-machine teaming.
This is a hypothesis we are working to test. It is not a finding.
What We Are Exploring
The questions behind the work.
- Which physiological signals can be collected passively and consistently by a body-worn device.
- How changes in those signals relate to changes in physiological state, such as workload or stress response.
- How estimates of physiological state might be presented to people, and to the systems they work with, in ways that are useful and easy to interpret.
- What a small, low-power, on-body design needs in order to make this practical.
Approach
Design principles.
- Passive. Signals are intended to be collected without requiring the wearer to do anything.
- On-body. A small wearable device rather than external equipment.
- Low-power. Low-power hardware and firmware are a design goal, so the device could be worn for long periods.
- Local processing. Processing signals on the device, without relying on the cloud, is a design goal.
- Open. Our intention is to release CRITTER as an open-source platform.
Current Status
Where the work stands.
- Architecture Defined.
- Prototype In development.
- Results None yet. There are no validated results.
We share progress in transparent weekly build videos on YouTube.
What We Are Not Claiming
Clear limits.
- Not a medical device. CRITTER is a research platform.
- No health assessment or treatment. CRITTER is not intended to identify, treat, or monitor any health condition.
- No emotion reading or mind reading. CRITTER does not read emotions or thoughts.
- No performance or accuracy claims. We make no claims about how well the approach works.
- No results yet. The prototype is in development, and we have no results to report.
Follow the build.
Questions about the research are welcome by email.