New system uses 'smart' light to track human behaviour

WASHINGTON: Scientists have developed a new system that uses the power of light to track a person's behaviour in real time, and has a wide range of applications such as virtual reality gaming and non-invasive health monitoring.

The new StarLight system advances the researchers prior LiSense design by dramatically reducing the number of intrusive sensors, overcoming furniture blockage and supporting user mobility.

The researchers studied the use of purely ubiquitous light around us to track users' behaviour, without any cameras, on-body devices or electromagnetic interference.

They were able to reconstruct a user 3D skeleton by leveraging the light emitted from LED panels on the ceiling and only 20 light sensors on the floor.

The system can track the user's skeleton as he or she moves around in a room with furniture and other objects.

"We're turning light into a ubiquitous sensing medium that tracks what we do and senses how we behave," said Xia Zhou, an assistant professor at the Dartmouth College in the US.

"It addresses several key practical issues of light-based sensing, including the furniture blockage, reliance on a large number of light sensors and user mobility," Zhou said.

"It pushes the vision of light sensing closer to practice surrounding smart objects, such as drones and smart appliances and play games, using purely the light around us," she said.

"It can also enable a new, passive health and behavioral monitoring paradigm to foster healthy lifestyles or identify early symptoms of certain diseases," she added.