'HEAT' Face Sensor and Autonomous Thermostat

Nurses in high-stress situations may get uncomfortably warm and want to remove face masks and other protective equipment. To tackle this problem, researchers from the University of Michigan  are dynamically adjusting a room’s temperature based on sensors worn by the nurses. The work has stemmed from a system, called Human Embodied Autonomous Thermostat or “HEAT,” that pairs thermal cameras with three-dimensional video cameras to measure whether occupants are hot or cold by tracking their facial temperature. It then feeds the temperature data to a predictive model, which compares it with information about occupants’ thermal preferences. Finally, the system determines the temperature that will keep the largest number of occupants comfortable with minimum energy expenditure.

Transcript

00:00:00 INSTRUCTOR >> Okay, you can start the sims. [Music and chatter from the lab] A team of University of Michigan researchers, led by civil and environmental engineering professors Carol Menassa and Vinneet Kamat are utilizing wearable sensors and thermal cameras inside the School of Nursing simulation rooms to detect increased heart rate, skin temperature, and breathing patterns in order to pinpoint the effects on nurses during stressful medical procedures. KAMAT >> Nurses administering chemotherapy were disincentivize to wear personal protective equipment because it creates

00:00:42 so much heat and discomfort that they choose not to wear it, exposing them to significant chemicals that are administered to the patient. The team hopes to develop specialized algorithms for these sensor data bundles that will help create the next generation of personal protective equipment MESASSA >> We want to be able to provide them personalized airflow into the space, personalized temperature, that makes sure that they are comfortable while they are doing the work.