Body Posture Detection Using Strain Sensitive Clothing

Measuring the body posture with textile integrated sensors opens new applications in the fields of sports, rehabilitation, and prevention. A strain sensitive clothing approach is presented including the characterization of a novel strain sensor, its attachment to the textile, and a study with 8 participants wearing the prototype and performing different body postures. Secondly, a simulation model of the garment is used to find an optimal sensor positioning and to show the robustness of a system detecting the body posture by measuring the strain in a garment. Presented aspects include the sensitivity of the sensor placement, of sensor failures, and of a shift of the garment.