The hearing trousers pocket - activity recognition by alternative sensors

In daily life, mobile phones accompany the user permanently and are worn often in the front pocket of the trousers. The sensors included in today's mobile phones can hence be used for ubiquitous assistance. For instance, the acceleration sensor could be used for analysis of the person's bodily activity, or the microphone can be used to analyze the environmental noise levels. A possible sensor fusion provides additional and assured environmental and context information. This work presents new methods of activity recognition by acceleration and sound sensors by means of sensors included in commercially available smart phones during everyday life. We could identify that sounds provide valuable additional information on a user's situation that allow to better asses a person's current context.