Cluster-Based Analysis for Personalized Stress Evaluation Using Physiological Signals

Qianli Xu, Tin Lay Nwe, Cuntai Guan

Abstract: Technology development in wearable sensors and biosignal processing has made it possible to detect human stress from the physiological features. However, the intersubject difference in stress responses presents a major challenge for reliable and accurate stress estimation. This research proposes a novel cluster-based analysis method to measure perceived stress using physiological signals, which accounts for the intersubject differences. The physiological data are collected when human subjects undergo a series of task-rest cycles, incurring varying levels of stress that is indicated by an index of the State Trait Anxiety Inventory. Next, a quantitative measurement of stress is developed by analyzing the physiological features in two steps: 1) a k-means clustering process to divide subjects into different categories (clusters), and 2) cluster-wise stress evaluation using the general regression neural network. Experimental results show a significant improvement in evaluation accuracy as compared to traditional methods without clustering. The proposed method is useful in developing intelligent, personalized products for human stress management.