Detecting walking speed with wireless signals
From: MIT News - 05/01/2017
By: Jeremy Hsu

A growing body of research suggests that the vital sign - how fast you walk -
could be a good predictor of health issues like cognitive decline, falls, and
even certain cardiac or pulmonary diseases.

Unfortunately, it’s hard to accurately monitor walking speed in a way that's
both continuous and unobtrusive. Professor Dina Katabi’s group at MIT's
Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL) has been
working on the problem, and believes that the answer is to go wireless.

In a new paper, Professor Dina Katabi's group at MIT’s Computer Science and
Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL) presents "WiGait," a device that
can measure the walking speed of multiple people with 95 to 99 percent
accuracy using wireless signals.

It works by analyzing the surrounding wireless signals and their reflections
off a person’s body.

Katabi says the device could help reveal a wealth of important health
information, particularly for the elderly. A change in walking speed, for
example, could mean that the person has suffered an injury or is at an
increased risk of falling. The system's feedback could even help the person
determine if they should move to a different environment such as an
assisted-living home.

Read the entire article and view a video (1:23) at:
http://news.mit.edu/2017/dina-katabi-csail-team-develop-wireless-system-to-detect-walking-speeds-0501

Links:
Gait Speed and Survival in Older Adults
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3080184

New system allows for high-accuracy, through-wall, 3-D motion tracking
http://news.mit.edu/2013/new-system-allows-for-high-accuracy-through-wall-3-d-motion-tracking-1211

Could wireless replace wearables?
http://news.mit.edu/2014/could-wireless-replace-wearables

How wireless "X-ray vision" could power virtual reality, smart homes, and
  Hollywood
http://news.mit.edu/2015/wireless-x-ray-vision-could-power-virtual-reality-smart-homes-hollywood-1028

Detecting emotions with wireless signals
http://news.mit.edu/2016/detecting-emotions-with-wireless-signals-0920

The Walls Have Eyes, and They’re Watching How You Walk
http://spectrum.ieee.org/the-human-os/biomedical/diagnostics/the-walls-have-eyes-and-theyre-watching-how-you-walk