TETRACOM - Mobile platform for real-time sonification of movements for medical rehabilitation

For a reliable sonification of movements a highly accurate motion capturing system has to be used. Camera-based systems which are well known as highly reliable require a stationary setup and a permanent line of sight between the tracked objects and multiple cameras. In contrast, mobile and wearable inertial sensors can be easily attached to the human body. This is mandatory for human motion capturing in sport training sessions or medical applications.

MediTECH, as a company with a strong background in biofeedback applications, is an ideal partner to enable transfer from academic prototype to medical product. The purpose of this TTP is to test and improve the every step from motion capturing to acoustic feedback and to derive a system, which is not only capable of performing the aforementioned tasks, but is also designed for manufacturing.

The system is comprised of multiple motion capturing units and a smart phone. The motion capturing units transmit their sensor data to the smartphone via Bluetooth Low Energy. Sensor fusion, combination of the calculated orientation(s) with the body model and sonification downstream are performed on the smart phone resulting in a compact and affordable system.

In the TTP an existing version of this system is analyzed regarding its quality (e.g. orientation estimation quality, endurance) and its product suitability (price per unit, ease of use, update capabilities). This involves sensor characterization in both static and dynamic scenarios and determining concurrently achievable sampling rates, but also battery lifetime and battery charge behavior. As a result of this analysis, which will consume roughly half of the TTP period, a set of measures will be compiled in order to improve both quality and product suitability. As a last step these improvements will be introduced in software, firmware and hardware.