Deep Learning-Based Fatigue Monitoring in Natural Environments: Multi-Level Fatigue State Classification

In today's fast-paced world, the escalating workloads faced by individuals have rendered fatigue a pressing concern that cannot be overlooked. Fatigue not only signals the need for individuals to take a break but also has far-reaching implications for both individuals and society across various domains, including health, safety, productivity, and the economy. While numerous prior studies have explored fatigue monitoring, many of them have been conducted within controlled experimental settings. These experiments typically require subjects to engage in specific tasks over extended periods to induce profound fatigue. However, there has been a limited focus on assessing daily fatigue in natural, real-world environments. To address this gap, this study introduces a daily fatigue monitoring system. We have developed a wearable device capable of capturing subjects' ECG signals in their everyday lives. We recruited 12 subjects to participate in a 14-day fatigue monitoring experiment. Leveraging the acquired ECG data, we propose machine learning models based on manually extracted features as well as a deep learning model called C-BL to classify subjects' fatigue levels into three categories: normal, slight fatigue, and fatigued. Our results demonstrate that the proposed end-to-end deep learning model outperforms other approaches with an accuracy rate of 83.3%, establishing its reliability for daily fatigue monitoring.