A Wearable for Physical Abuse Detection

Physical abuse can persist in part because of isolation and concealment. This paper explores the design of a wearable computer system that could ultimately record and document exerted forces on the body in an effort to identify physical abuse. The proposed system is in the form of apparel or ´smart´ clothing, utilizing fabric based pressure sensors to categorize and measure the intensity of impacts to the wearer´s body. The focus of this paper is to present strategies by which a computer system could begin to classify forces and recognize them as abusive. As textile based user interfaces find their way into clothing, the opportunity for computers to identify physical abuse will become evident. Although a computer system cannot understand the feeling of pain or the emotional suffering a victim feels, it should be aware of the physical abuse for medical, legal or therapeutic reasons.