Correcting Smartphone orientation for accelerometer-based analysis

A method was developed for rotating a Smartphone accelerometer coordinate system from an offset to a predetermined three-dimensional position to improve accelerometer-based activity identification. A quaternion-based rotation matrix was constructed from an axis-angle pair, produced via algebraic manipulations of the gravity acceleration components in the device's body-fixed frame of reference with the desired position of the vector. The rotation matrix is constructed during quiet standing and then applied to all subsequent accelerometer readings thereafter, transforming their values in this new fixed frame. This method provides a consistent accelerometer orientation between people, thereby reducing Smartphone orientation variability that can adversely affect activity classification algorithms.