SLR Zainab Saba
SLR Zainab Saba
Human activity recognition (HAR) using wearable devices has garnered significant attention due
to its applications in healthcare, sports, and human-computer interaction. This systematic
literature review (SLR) provides a comprehensive overview of deep learning approaches for
HAR from 2021 to 2024. The review focuses on methodologies, datasets, performance metrics,
challenges, and future directions in this rapidly evolving field.Recent advancements in deep
learning, particularly convolutional neural networks (CNNs) and recurrent neural networks
(RNNs), have greatly improved HAR accuracy and robustness. Various architectures such as
CNN-RNN hybrids, attention mechanisms, and transformer models have been explored to
capture spatial and temporal dependencies in sensor data efficiently.The review also highlights
the significance of publicly available benchmark datasets like UCI-HAR, WISDM, and
OPPORTUNITY in evaluating model performance and generalization. Performance metrics
including accuracy, precision, recall, F1-score, and confusion matrices are commonly used to
assess HAR models' effectiveness.Challenges such as data scarcity, class imbalance, domain
adaptation, real-time inference, energy efficiency, and privacy concerns are discussed, along
with potential solutions and ongoing research efforts.Lastly, the review outlines future research
directions, including multimodal sensor fusion, continual learning, explainable AI, personalized
HAR systems, and edge computing for real-time applications.
Introduction
their daily living tasks refers to Human Activity Recognition (HAR). A HAR system can identify
subject activities to provide authorities with valuable information to perform specific actions [1].
A variety of sensors are available for recording activities, including a variety of physiological
activity sensors, ambient sensors, infrared motion detectors, and magnetic sensors [2]. RADAR
[3], acoustic sensors Echo, everyday objects, video cameras. Video-based HAR systems are
popular due to their numerous real-life applications, but they also pose multiple privacy and
environmental restrictions in smart environments. The objective of the HAR system is to identify
real-life human activities and categorize them. Human activities are highly complicated and
diverse, which makes accurate activity recognition a challenge in computer vision. Earlier
studies in HAR systems consider activity recognition as a typical pattern identification problem
[5]. Early HAR techniques were based on Support Vector Machine (SVM) and Hidden Markov
models (HMM) [4]. Later research in this field has moved towards machine learning. The
traditional techniques in machine learning, also known as shallow learning, involve heuristically
driven feature extraction from data that mainly relies on human expert knowledge for a particular
domain, limiting the architecture designed for one environment to surpass the problem of another
area [6]. With the evolution of deep learning, handcrafted approximations are replaced as deep
learning allows direct feature extraction from data, hence does not require any expert knowledge
approaches, end-to-end neural network architectures are trained directly from unprocessed data
like pixels to classification. Deep learning techniques such as Convolutional Neural Networks
(CNNs) and Recurrent Neural Networks (RNN) are highly effective in learning complex
activities due to their characteristics of local dependency and scale invariance [5]..
HAR applications:
physiological activity sensors, ambient sensors, infrared motion detectors, and magnetic sensors
[7], RADAR [8], acoustic sensors [9], Echo, everyday objects, video cameras. Video-based HAR
systems are popular due to their numerous real-life applications, but they also pose multiple
privacy and environmental restrictions in smart environments. The task of assigning labels to
actions is a topic of interest due to its number of applications in various fields. Applications of
individual and group activity recognition comprise several areas like surveillance, medical,
sports, entertainment industry, gaming, robotics, video indexing, video annotation, etc., [10].
With the increasing usage of surveillance cameras, Network-based surveillance systems provide
cooperative, instant observing which increases human throughput and performance [11].
Content-based video study and intuitive labeling of video clips lead towards improved searching
natural language understanding that can help us in creating computers with improved speech
recognition [13]. Finally, home care technologies can be developed with the ability to identify
activities of daily living, decreasing the charges and burdens of caregiving with enhanced care
and self-sufficiency in old age [14] Smart home technology controls the incorporated lighting,
heating, electrical, and all domestic components, as well as it can also recognize the activity of
all home residents. Vision-based human activity recognition in smart homes has become a
significant issue in terms of developing the next-generation technologies which can improve
healthcare and security of smart homes. By taking advantage of automatic feature extraction and
using large-scale datasets of deep learning methods special CNN architecture for extracting
features following a sequence of convolutional and pooling layers has been proposed [15]. In this
regard, a real human activity video dataset DMLSmartActions has been used [16].
Problem Statement
and classification, which is an essential yet complicated task. Each model developed for activity
recognition requires a dataset for validation. The empirical process of identifying the most
suitable dataset and methods to overcome challenges and enhance HAR performance demands
considerable time and effort from researchers, particularly at the inception of their work. Based
on our observation, there is a gap in research on HAR that specifically examines and reviews the
latest advancements in wearable device-based human activity recognition using deep neural
architectures. This research aims to systematically analyze recent literature, document evidence,
and address our proposed research questions. Hence, in this study, we systematically examine
and summarize the latest HAR approaches, datasets, and developments in modeling and
validation from 2021 to 2024 to answer the following Research Questions (RQ)
1. What are the deep learning architectures utilized in recent HAR research (2021-2024)?
2. What are the strengths and limitations of different deep learning architectures (e.g.,
CNNs, RNNs, LSTM, Transformer) in HAR?
3. How do deep learning models perform in terms of accuracy, generalization capability,
robustness to sensor noise, and computational efficiency in HAR tasks? Or in other words
How do different deep learning architectures and methodologies perform in terms of
metrics like accuracy, precision, recall, and F1-score for HAR tasks?
4. What are the characteristics of open datasets commonly used in HAR research between
2021 and 2024?
5. How suitable are these datasets for training and evaluating deep learning models for
HAR?
6. What are the common challenges and limitations encountered in HAR research using
deep learning approaches and open datasets?
7. What emerging research directions and potential solutions can address these challenges
and advance the state-of-the-art in HAR using smartphones and deep learning
techniques?
Research Contributions
A Systematic Literature Review (SLR) is carried out to select and analyze the 60 research studies
published from January 2021 to May 2024, focusing on deep learning architectures for modeling
data from wearable sensors to answer the above-mentioned RQ’s. This research is the first
systematic literature review in wearable device-based human activity recognition using deep
neural frameworks within this time frame. This study aims to provide recent advancements in
human activity recognition using wearable sensors. The scope of this research is limited to
wearable device-based human activity recognition approaches implemented using deep learning.
This paper does not consider other sensor types like RGB-D sensors or actuators because they
are not as readily available in real-world scenarios and propose solutions specific to particular
recognition by Smith et al. [17]. Besides, this study only considers standard publicly available,
widely used datasets for research. The main contribution of this research observed regarding this
research field is: This research analytically explores and reviews the recent advances in deep
learning architectures for HAR in wearable sensor data. A description and analysis of each
technique used to model features from wearable sensor data are identified. This is the first effort
developments using deep neural networks comprehensively to the best of our knowledge. This
study identifies the most recognized datasets used to evaluate recognition accuracy in HAR using
wearable devices, assessing the types of activities, subjects involved, background and situation
where the data have been collected, type of sensors, the duration of data collection.
Researchers/practitioners can benefit from this type of study to select a suitable dataset for
evaluation as per their requirements. Finally, this study will also highlight the substantial
research gaps regarding wearable device-based HAR, where enhancements are required to model
and evaluate diverse human activities in real-life settings. This SLR has been organized into the
following sections: Section II describes related literature research, Section III explains the
proposed methodology used for this systematic literature review. In Section IV, the bibliometric
analysis is presented, and Section V presents the characterization and analysis for different
techniques, challenges and their solutions, and validation datasets. Section VII presents the
discussion about results analysis, and finally, Sections VIII presents the conclusions and future
work, respectively.
Related Work
In the realm of wearable devices, activity recognition typically involves interpreting gestures or
movements of individuals using sensor data. Zhang et al. [17] published a comprehensive survey
on human pose estimation in 2015, comparing methods for color images and depth data. Chen et
al. [18] conducted a detailed analysis of 2D and 3D human pose estimation based on deep
learning in 2020, categorizing approaches by specific tasks and evaluation metrics. Li et al. [19]
focused on 3D hand-pose estimation methods in 2021, discussing model-driven, data-driven, and
hybrid approaches alongside benchmark datasets.
A comprehensive survey by [20] in 2022 presented a taxonomy for analyzing 3D static and
dynamic human data, categorizing spatial and temporal representations, and discussing various
applications. Herath et al. [21] reviewed action recognition solutions in 2021, comparing
handcrafted and deep learning-based methods, including discussions on global vs. local feature
extraction and different deep learning architectures.
Dhillon and Kushwaha [22] reviewed trends in activity recognition using deep learning models
in 2023, analyzing techniques based on RGB camera images, depth maps, and skeleton joints.
However, they also discussed applications relevant to wearable devices. Wang et al. [23]
provided coverage of challenges and methods for RGB-D motion recognition from 2021 to 2024,
categorizing approaches based on different modalities and benchmark datasets.
Though these survey papers cover a range of topics, including broader applications beyond
wearable devices, they offer valuable insights into deep learning techniques applicable to
wearable device-based activity recognition.
Research Methods
This study delves into wearable device-based Human Activity Recognition (HAR), examining
both traditional methods and deep learning approaches. The main aim is to evaluate the
effectiveness of various techniques within this domain. Specifically, the study focuses on
assessing how deep neural architectures improve activity classification by extracting Spatio-
Additionally, it seeks to identify practical challenges inherent to this field and conduct a
comparative analysis of different datasets utilized in literature for architecture learning. Adhering
to the latest state-of-the-art guidelines [34]–[38], this systematic literature review (SLR) on
human activity recognition marks the first comprehensive effort from 2021 to 2024, focusing on
wearable devices and deep neural architectures in the analysis of activity patterns to the best of
• ACM
• IEEE
• ScienceDirect
• Springer
• MDPI
The search procedure is followed using two kinds of operators, i.e., AND, OR. The steps
B. Article Selection
Selection and rejection criteria are logically defined to systematically address our
selected research questions. The criteria for inclusion and exclusion are summarized as
follows:
● Only original research papers are considered, excluding review or survey papers.
Articles published from 2021 to 2024 are included to capture the latest
review (SLR).
Source No of Papers
ACM 859
MDPI 38
ScienceDirect 50
IEEE 897
Springer 30
Total 1874
A. String Selection
This search string is designed to capture relevant articles focusing on wearable device-based
Human Activity Recognition (HAR) using deep neural architectures, considering aspects like
analysis, deep neural networks, wearable devices, human activities, and
recognition/classification processes.
Only those terms are considered that can maximize relevant search outcomes. Only those
research papers are considered that follow our research objective. We used a custom range of
B. String Refinement
After string formation, the next step is to refine our search results returned from defined
find potential papers for this SLR. If the search string returns irrelevant or very few
articles, it requires fine-tuning. This study also refined the search string after analyzing
the results returned from the initial search string. We performed five iterations and
analyzed the search results on each database before finalizing the search string.
The papers returned after applying filters with the final selected search string is shown in
Table 3. Science Direct has a specific limitation that it does not support more than 8
Boolean operators.
Study Selection
The search initially yielded a vast pool of 1874 papers. We then developed a data abstraction and
summarization template to sift through these papers and extract relevant information for our
systematic literature review (SLR). In the first phase, we focused on bibliographic details like
titles and publication information. After analyzing the titles and abstracts, we excluded 2000
papers that didn't align with our research scope.
Moving forward, we delved deeper into the abstracts and conclusions of the remaining papers to
gain a thorough understanding of the problems addressed. This step allowed us to filter out 82
more articles that weren't directly relevant to our study.
In the third phase, we scrutinized each paper's core details, including the proposed
methodologies, implementation strategies, and data requirements for validation. This meticulous
review led to the exclusion of 59 additional papers, leaving us with 129 articles to analyze in full
text.
Database Analysis
Bibliometrics is the use of statistical evaluation to analyze published books and scientific
articles. It is used in the survey paper as an effective way to measure the influence of publication
in the scientific community. After recording the bibliometric variables of 70 publications, they
were quantified based on publication year, scientific database, and paper citations.
filters
Fig3: Describe the search strategy of different papers on different sources after selecting by
This section discusses the extracted results from the selected studies to answer the research
questions after a detailed analysis. According to the relevant articles included in this study, this
exploring 75 selected studies, we categorize deep neural architecture into eight types. These
categories and their description is mentioned in table 6. This literature aims to provide new
researchers with the crucial support for a better understanding of the recent approaches currently
progressing for smart phones based human activity recognition. This paper highlights the most
prominent current practices for researchers and beginners. This section discusses 75 state-of-the-
art deep learning techniques. However, it is difficult to precisely answer which approaches are
Name Description
A convolutional neural network (CNN) is a type of artificial neural
network used primarily for image recognition and processing, due
CNN to its ability to recognize patterns in images
A recurrent neural network (RNN) is a deep learning model that is
trained to process and convert a sequential data input into a
RNN specific sequential data output.
LSTMs Long Short-Term Memory is a type of RNNs Recurrent
Neural Network that can detain long-term dependencies in
LSTM sequential data.
A 3D Convolutional Neural Network is a deep learning model used
in various applications, such as computer vision or medical
imaging. In these cases, we want AI (deep learning) to learn how
to react to inputs rather than programming the AI according to a
3D-DNN predetermined pattern
Table6: Approached based Descriptions
Discussion:
This section delves into the significance of selecting an architecture type that suits a specific
dataset within the realm of wearable device-based Human Activity Recognition (HAR). We
thoroughly explore the most prominent techniques in HAR in terms of performance and critically
analyze various state-of-the-art methodologies along with reported datasets.
In some instances, it's challenging to directly compare the methodology and evaluation measures
of selected studies due to differences in context and objectives, even if they address similar
problems. However, this SLR aims to address the technique selection challenge in specific
scenarios and datasets, aiding researchers in choosing appropriate architectures and evaluation
processes.
For instance, the Weber Motion History Image (WMHI) emerges as a novel motion estimation
technique tailored for pose-based HAR, effectively reducing unwanted background motion.
WMHI surpasses existing motion techniques like optical flow and motion history image,
delivering state-of-the-art results.
Additionally, the hierarchical rank pooling network demonstrates an effective temporal pooling
layer applicable to various CNN architectures, facilitating informative dynamics learning and
achieving high accuracy rates.
The S-TPNet introduces a Spatio-temporal module that integrates multi-level features into a
hierarchical frame-level representation, achieving impressive accuracy rates.
These discussions highlight the advancements, challenges, and potential directions within
wearable device-based Human Activity Recognition (HAR) using deep neural architectures,
providing valuable insights for researchers and practitioners in the field.
Conclusion:
This systematic literature review (SLR) serves as a foundational resource for newcomers in the
field of wearable device-based Human Activity Recognition (HAR), providing insights into the
current landscape of methodologies and architectures. While HAR encompasses activities
captured through various sensors, this review primarily focuses on video-based activity
recognition due to its broad applicability in real-world scenarios.
The core aim of this study was to identify suitable deep neural architectures for HAR, leveraging
the advancements in the deep learning paradigm. Following established guidelines from prior
research papers, a thorough analysis led to the inclusion of 70 articles that answered our research
questions and provided valuable insights.
For Research Question 2, we delved into the challenges faced in HAR and the proposed solutions
discussed in each paper. These challenges include objective and subjective factors in visual
appearance, intra-class and inter-class diversity, optimizing deep neural architecture parameters,
avoiding overfitting, and learning with small datasets, among others.
Answering Research Question3-7 involved analyzing the datasets used for evaluation in each
paper. Notably, datasets like UCF-101 and HMDB-51 emerged as commonly used benchmarks
for HAR evaluation due to their diverse classes and video characteristics.
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