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Updated: Apr 26, 2026

Measurement of Vibration Detection Threshold and Tactile Spatial Acuity in Human Subjects
Published on: September 1, 2016
Can an iPod Touch be used to assess whole-body vibration associated with mining equipment?
Rebecca Wolfgang1, Luke Di Corleto2, Robin Burgess-Limerick3
11.Department of Rural Health, The University of Newcastle, Tamworth 2348, Australia; 1.Department of Rural Health, The University of Newcastle, Tamworth 2348, Australia;
Abstract:
The cost and complexity of commercially available whole-body vibration measurement devices is a barrier to the systematic collection of the information required to manage this hazard. The potential for a consumer electronic device to be used to estimate whole-body vibration was assessed by collecting 58 simultaneous pairs of acceleration measurements in three dimensions from a fifth-generation iPod Touch and gold standard whole-body vibration measurement devices, while a range of heavy mining equipment was operated at three surface coal mines. The results suggest that accelerometer data gathered from a consumer electronic device are able to be used to measure whole-body vibration amplitude with 95% confidence of ±0.06 m s(-2) root mean square for the vertical direction (1.96 × standard deviation of the constant error).
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