Using Smart Eyewear to Sense Electrodermal Activity While Reading

ABSTRACT In this paper, we present the use of smart eyewear as reading glasses and as non-intrusive sensing devices that can measure the electrodermal activity (EDA) of readers of fiction in real-time using electrodes on the forehead. EDA has seen extensive use in the past decade in accessing emotional arousal, with research linking human skin sweating to the emotional state of a subject. Traditional ways of measuring EDA involve using the fingers, which has the highest concentration of eccrine sweat glands, but this method proves to be intrusive in non-laboratory environments as most daily activities require the use of one’s hands. In this paper, we discuss the viability of using smart eyewear to measure and visualize a reader’s physiological signals as well as provide some background in EDA research.