Advancing Mobile Neuroscience: A Novel Wearable Backpack for Multi-Sensor Research in Urban Environments.

Area of Science:

• Urban Health
• Environmental Sensing
• Human-Computer Interaction

Background:

• Global urbanization necessitates understanding urban environmental impacts on health.
• Laboratory studies lack real-world ecological validity for urban health research.
• Existing methods struggle to capture dynamic urban exposures and human responses.

Purpose of the Study:

• To introduce the eMOTIONAL Cities Walker, a portable multimodal sensing platform.
• To enable synchronous collection of environmental and physiological data in naturalistic urban settings.
• To bridge the gap between controlled lab studies and real-world urban health research.

Main Methods:

• Developed a wearable backpack platform integrating environmental sensors (microclimate, air pollution, acoustics).
• Incorporated physiological sensors: electroencephalography (EEG), mobile eye-tracking, and wrist-based monitoring.
• Designed for synchronous, real-time data acquisition in indoor and outdoor urban environments.

Main Results:

• Demonstrated the technical architecture and sensor specifications of the eMOTIONAL Cities Walker.
• Successfully deployed the platform in selected urban locations in Lisbon.
• Validated the system's feasibility and robustness for data collection in dynamic urban settings.

Conclusions:

• The eMOTIONAL Cities Walker offers a novel solution for ecologically valid urban health research.
• This platform facilitates the study of human experience within complex urban environments.
• Advances translational research by integrating sensor technology, human physiology, and urban studies.