Designing Just-in-Time Detection for Gamified Fitness Frameworks

This paper presents our findings from a multi-year effort to detect motion events early using inertial sensors in real-world settings. We believe early event detection is the next step in advancing motion tracking, and can enable just-in-time interventions, particularly for mHealth applications. Our system targets strength training workouts in the fitness domain, where users perform well-defined movements for each exercise, while wearing an inertial sensor. We collect data for 20 exercises across 12 users over 26 months. We propose an algorithm to detect repetitions before they end, to allow a user to visualize movement derived metrics in real-time. We further develop a gamified approach to display this information to the user and encourage them to perform consistent movements. Participants in a feasibility study find the gamified feedback useful in improving their form. Our system can detect repetition events as early as 500 ms before it ends, which is 2x faster and more accurate than state-of-the-art trackers. We believe our approach will open exciting avenues for tracking, detection, and gamification for fitness frameworks.