What wearable and Artificial Intelligence technology does INESC TEC have for Health and Safety at Work?

At the PROTEGER24 conference – promoted by the Portuguese Security Association (APSEI) and considered the largest at the national level in the Security sector -, INESC TEC presented the work developed in Quantified Occupational Health, in particular, the technological solutions it has been developing for the psychophysiological monitoring of professionals like firefighters, police officers, air traffic controllers, military or even agricultural workers.

“Wearables & AI Applied to OSH” was the presentation that opened the lecture programme of the 2024 edition of the PROTEGER conference. Susana Rodrigues and Duarte Dias, INESC TEC researchers, shared with the audience the technological solutions that the institution has been developing for psychophysiological monitoring. “We had the opportunity to present the work we have carried out in the area of Quantified Occupational Health, within which we have dedicated ourselves to the development of technological solutions for the psychophysiological monitoring of professionals”, the researchers explained, adding that it is a domain that adds up to more than 10 years of research.

“Within this line of research, we have already developed adapted wearable devices and algorithms based on Artificial Intelligence with three patents, resorting to the analysis of datasets – with more than 1500 hours of Electrocardiogram (ECG) data – collected from different professional groups: firefighters, police officers, air traffic controllers and military personnel”.

Some examples of the solutions presented by INESC TEC researchers were the technology developed in the VR2Market – Vital Responder to Market project, which allows, among other applications, to monitor the vital signs and environmental variables to which professionals like firefighters, police officers or paramedics are exposed; or the wearable devices used in the AgWearCare project to collect and digitalise data that can support agricultural work and help prevent musculoskeletal injuries.

In addition, Susana Rodrigues and Duarte Dias presented, in the Innovation Area of the Conference – dedicated to the exhibition of Safety solutions -, WeSENSS, a spin-off of INESC TEC, which integrates the technological solution that has been developed in this line of research, allowing in a robust, simple and effective way, the evaluation and monitoring of the health and impact of environmental variables on workers, and the promotion of their safety in real situations.

PROTEGER24 took place at the Estoril Congress Centre, on April 10 and 11, and welcomed more than 1850 people, including national and international experts, academics, and security professionals.