A residual deep learning network for smartwatch-based user identification using activity patterns in daily living

User identification is a critical aspect of smartwatch security, ensuring that only authorized individuals gain access to sensitive information stored on the device. Conventional methods like passwords and biometrics have limitations, such as the risk of forgetting passwords or the potential for biometric data to be compromised. This research proposes a novel approach for user identification on smartwatches by analyzing activity patterns using a hybrid residual neural network called Att-ResBiLSTM. The proposed method leverages unique patterns of user interactions with their smartwatches, including application usage, typing behavior, and motion sensor data, to create an individualized user profile. Employing a deep learning network specifically designed for wearable devices, the system can reliably and promptly identify users by analyzing their activity patterns. The Att-ResBiLSTM architecture comprises three key components: convolutional layers, ResBiLSTM, and an attention layer. The convolutional layers extract spatial features from the pre-processed data. At the same time, the ResBiLSTM component captures long-term dependencies in the time-series data by combining the advantages of bidirectional long short-term memory (BiLSTM) and residual connections. The attention mechanism enhances the final recognition features by selectively prioritizing the most informative elements of the input data. The Att-ResBiLSTM model is trained and evaluated using a diverse dataset of user activity patterns. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed approach achieves remarkable accuracy in user identification, with an accuracy rate of 98.29% and the highest F1-score of 98.24%. The research also conducts a comparative analysis to assess the efficacy of accelerometer data versus gyroscope data, revealing that combining both sensor modalities improves user identification performance. The proposed methodology provides a reliable and user-friendly alternative to conventional user authentication techniques for smartwatches. This approach leverages activity patterns and a hybrid residual deep learning network to offer a robust and efficient solution for user identification based on smartwatch data, thereby enhancing the overall security of wearable devices. • Att-ResBiLSTM combines CNN, ResBiLSTM, and attention to enhance time series feature extraction. • Fusion of accelerometer and gyroscope data enhances user identification accuracy. • Att-ResBiLSTM achieves 98.29% accuracy and 98.24% F1-score, surpassing other models on SP-SW HAR. • Novel smartwatch user authentication method achieves high reliability using activity patterns.