In situ measurement of playing children by wireless wearable electromyography

A wearable sensor technology enables us to conduct scientific research on our everyday lives by describing everyday phenomena quantitatively. For example, observing and understanding children\´s behavior in everyday lives is required for developing preventive measures of children\´s injuries. This paper describes a wireless wearable electromyography (EMG) sensor for measuring behavior of children in a daily living space. A wireless wearable EMG sensor developed by the authors is presented. The system has two electrodes, and can measure the grasping power by measuring myoelectric potential of the forearm in two places. This paper proved the effectiveness of the developed system by conducting in situ measurement of 47 "playing" nursery school toddlers. This paper also presents the analysis of the play action in climbing a stall wall type of a play equipment and its application to evidence-based product design of a play equipment that fits for children.