Contrastive learning for body gesture detection during Adapted Physical Activity

Juan Martinez Rocha, Federico Pennino, Cécile Dubois, Éric Monacelli, Maurizio Gabbrielli

Abstract: This paper presents a novel approach to body gesture recognition for powered wheelchair users, leveraging inertial data from wrist-mounted sensors to facilitate movement and enhance autonomy in Adapted Physical Activity (APA). Gesture recognition technology interprets human gestures to allow non-direct communication with devices, enhancing human-machine interaction across various fields. APA fosters inclusion and well-being through tailored physical engagement. Our model not only identifies known gestures with high accuracy, as indicated by a mean Average Precision (mAP) score of 0.92 and a Recall@1 score of 0.983, but also demonstrates the ability to recognize gestures not included in the training set. This research contributes to the field of human-robot interaction by offering a more dynamic and inclusive form of interaction for individuals reliant on powered mobility aids.