Indoor tracking of physical activity behavior using Bluetooth and accelerometers – A pilot test

Purpose: To pilot test the Bluetooth based ZONITH Indoor Positioning System (IPS) and investigate if different indoor areas in a science museum are associated with different types of behavior.

Methods: 171 students (grade 6) were invited to participate in the study and were asked to wear a Bluetooth-enabled Global Positioning System (GPS) tracker (QStarz BT-Q1000x), and an accelerometer (ActiGraph GT3X). ZONITH Bluetooth positioning beacons were set-up in a large science museum, which made it possible to determine which participants were in which (predetermined) zones of the museum. The Bluetooth and GPS data were merged with the accelerometer data and total time and the proportion of time spent in moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) were calculated per zone.

Results: After some initial adjustments, the Bluetooth positioning beacons were capable of accurately recording most respondents in the different zones. Significant differences in activity levels between the different zones were found. Boys generally spent a higher proportion of time in MVPA compared to girls.

Conclusions: Using the Bluetooth signal from the Qstarz GPS-trackers in combination with the ‘zone’ function of the ZONITH Indoor Positioning System made it possible to determine in which zone of the building participants spent time. Setting up the system took some time and effort, but the potential of determining where participants are when inside e.g. their school or workplace makes it possible to answer additional research questions. The combination of GPS and Bluetooth location data provided a more complete picture of participants’ behavior during a 7-day period.