Ardo Allik, a doctoral student at the Department of Health Technologies of the TalTech School of Information Technologies, is developing a methodology for assessing a person’s level of physical fatigue based on physiological signals. The new methodology could be used in a wide range of areas in the future by implementing it in fitness trackers and sports watches.
According to Ardo Allik, a fatigue assessment solution such as this is eagerly awaited, as fatigue reduces both physical and mental capacity, thereby increasing the risk of sports injuries as well as accidents at work. As this is a person-specific problem and fatigue does not affect everyone in the same way, it is difficult to establish a single set of parameters that would enable fatigue to be identified with the same degree of certainty in all users.
“To date, a comprehensive series of tests has been developed and conducted, based on the results of which a primary set of suitable fatigue markers has been established. The related results enable physical fatigue to be assessed in real time, including via wearable devices that do not cause discomfort to the user and from which the user can get constant feedback about their condition,” Allik explained. This means that, in the future, users will be able to receive more information about themselves, which will allow them to make more informed decisions to improve their condition and prevent accidents and injuries.
