TeamSense: Prototyping Modular Electronics Sensor Systems for Team Biometrics

Electronic sensors systems can be used to unobtrusively gather real-time measurements of human interaction and biometrics. However, developing custom sensor systems can be costly, time intensive and often requires high technical expertise in embedded mechatronic systems. We present a prototyping case study of a real world system, TeamSense, with the scenario of a manager who wishes to use embedded sensors to develop data-driven insights on team performance. Team Biometrics is a term used here to refer to a sensor system that measures some physical characteristic of a group of individuals. We explore how existing novice electronics toolkits, such as Arduino, can be used to develop a custom wireless biometric sensing network, without requiring deep technical experience, time investment, or cost. A series of functional data collection prototypes are presented, and we present lessons learned from initial testing with live deployment in a team setting. The need for more (1) modular and (2) mutable electronics and software components were discovered to be a limiting factor in allowing more experimentation in the early stages of sensor system prototyping. Modularity enables fixed functional blocks to be swapped in and out of a system (enabling combinations), and mutability allows modification of blocks to change their function (enabling mutation). We propose a future sensor platform that explores how modularity and mutability affects electronics prototyping with sensors. This work has broad implications for Designing Thinking, and importance of toolkits in reducing the barriers to entry for rapid prototyping with sensors.