Trade-Offs Between Simplifying Inertial Measurement Unit–Based Movement Recordings and the Attainability of Different Levels of Analyses: Systematic Assessment of Method Variations

Background: Human movement activity is commonly recorded with inertial measurement unit (IMU) sensors in many science disciplines. The IMU data can be used for an algorithmic detection of different postures and movements, which may support more detailed assessments of complex behaviors, such as daily activities. Studies on human behavior in real-life environments need to strike a balance between simplifying the recording settings and preserving sufficient analytic gains. It is poorly understood, however, what the trade-offs are between alternative recording configurations and the attainable analyses of naturalistic behavior at different levels of inspection, or with respect to achievable scientific questions. Objective: This study assessed systematically the effects of IMU recording configurations (placement and number of IMU sensors, sampling frequency, and sensor modality) on the high temporal resolution detections of postures and movements, and on their lower temporal resolution derivative statistics when the data represents naturalistic daily activity without excessively repetitive movements. Methods: We used a dataset from spontaneously moving infants (N=41; age range 4-18 months) recorded with a multisensor wearable suit. The analysis benchmark was obtained using human annotations of postures and movements from a synchronously recorded video, and the reference IMU recording configuration included 4 IMU sensors collecting triaxial accelerometer and gyroscope modalities at 52 Hz. Then, we systematically tested how the algorithmic classification of postures (N=7), and movements (N=9), as well as their distributions and a derivative motor performance score, are affected by reducing IMU data sampling frequency, sensor modality, and sensor placement. Results: Our results show that reducing the number of sensors has a significant effect on classifier performance, and the single sensor configurations were nonfeasible (posture classification Cohen kappa<0.75; movement<0.45). Reducing sensor modalities to accelerometer only, that is, dropping gyroscope data, leads to a modest reduction in movement classification performance (kappa=0.50-0.53). However, the sampling frequency could be reduced from 52 to 6 Hz with negligible effects on the classifications (posture kappa=0.90-0.92; movement=0.56-0.58). Conclusions: The present findings highlight the significant trade-offs between IMU recording configurations and the attainability of sufficiently reliable analyses at different levels. Notably, the single-sensor recordings employed in most of the literature and wearable solutions are of very limited use when assessing the key aspects of real-world movement behavior at relevant temporal resolutions. The minimal configuration with an acceptable classifier performance includes at least a combination of one upper and one lower extremity sensor, at least 13 Hz sampling frequency, and at least an accelerometer, but preferably also a gyroscope (posture kappa=0.89-0.91; movement=0.50-0.53). These findings have direct implications for the design of future studies and wearable solutions that aim to quantify spontaneously occurring postures and movements in natural behaviors.

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