The primary focus of the research team Environmental Physiology is the development of advanced methods for stress measurement and evaluation in humans in various extra/terrestrial scenarios (namely urban settings). More specifically, there are several areas of research evolving within the group: i) novel technologies for stress measurement including novel sensors, sensoric systems and composite markers of stress, ii) evaluation of big data from wearables (smart watches, smart bands, smartphones, etc) and the interpretation of this data in the context of selected health outcomes, iii) modelling of humans stress in urban setting and iv) human stress measurement in confined or isolated places. The vision of the team is to provide novel approaches to stress measurement and evalution in at the level of a human individual as well as populations, in various settings, including urban settings, sport, occupational applications and army/defense scenarios.
Novel technologies for stress measurement
In our team, we developed a novel approach to stress measurement that is based on thermodynamics. We use this approach as an innovative contribution to the state-of-the art of stress measurement and use AI to build composite physiological markers of stress.
Big data from wearables
According to researchers at IBM Watson, “The average person is likely to generate more than 1 million gigabytes of health-related data in their lifetime.” This data is generated using various technologies, including the commonly-used wearables, such as smart watch or smartphone. We analyze this data and use advanced mathematical modelling and AI to interpret them.
Modelling of humans stress in urban setting
Urban environment undoubtedly affects human health and wellbeing. We analyze stress-related physiological data and contextualize them with geospatial information on the urban environment.
Human stress measurement in confined or isolated places
Stress is actually a non-specific adaptation response to the environment. There are various extreme environments on Earth as well as in space where novel, innovative approaches to stress measurement will be highly useful. We contribute by introducing novel approaches to stress measurement that can be used also in space.
The results of our research are not only published in the scientific journals, but also translated into praxis and brought into real life. In 2020, we have established our first spin-off company Entrant, which focuses on real-time measurement of stress, especially for army and space applications.