Ambulatory Energy Expenditure Estimation: A Machine Learning Approach

Abstract

This paper presents a machine learning approach for accurate estimation of energy expenditure using a fusion of accelerometer and heart rate sensing. To address short comings in existing off-the-shelf solutions, we designed Jog Falls, an end to end system for weight management in collaboration with physicians in India. This system is meant to enable people to accurately monitor their energy expenditure and intake and make educated tradeoffs to reach their weight goals. In this paper we describe the sensing components of Jog Falls and focus on the energy expenditure estimation algorithm. We present results from controlled experiments in the lab, as well results from a 15 participant user study over a period of 63 days. We show how our algorithm mitigates many of the issues in existing solutions and yields more accurate results.