A smart watch with embedded sensors to recognize objects, grasps and forearm gestures

This article proposes a smart watch for the recognition of gestures with objects. The watch is designed to embed different kinds of sensors enabling several functionalities: the recognition of tagged objects by means of RFID technology; the recognition of gestures of the forearm using inertial sensors; the recognition of fingers gestures, hand gestures and grasps by sensing the force exerted by tendons in the wrist. Although the first two functionalities adopt common solutions already presented in the literature, for the third functionality we propose a novel approach based on flexible force sensors on the wrist. These sensors are integrated in the belt of the watch and aim to detect movements of tendons and changes of the shape of the wrist. A feasibility evaluation is presented and discussed. Results show that force sensors on the wrist are able to retrieve important information about hand and finger movements, although this information can vary depending on sensor placement. Further improvements for this system are also proposed.