A Wearable System for the Evaluation of the Human-Horse Interaction: A Preliminary Study

This study reports on a preliminary estimation of the human-horse interaction through the analysis of the heart rate variability (HRV) in both human and animal by using the dynamic time warping (DTW) algorithm. Here, we present a wearable system for HRV monitoring in horses. Specifically, we first present a validation of a wearable electrocardiographic (ECG) monitoring system for horses in terms of comfort and robustness, then we introduce a preliminary objective estimation of the human-horse interaction. The performance of the proposed wearable system for horses was compared with a standard system in terms of movement artifact (MA) percentage. Seven healthy horses were monitored without any movement constraints. As a result, the lower amount of MA% of the wearable system suggests that it could be profitably used for reliable measurement of physiological parameters related to the autonomic nervous system (ANS) activity in horses, such as the HRV. Human-horse interaction estimation was achieved through the analysis of their HRV time series. Specifically, DTW was applied to estimate dynamic coupling between human and horse in a group of fourteen human subjects and one horse. Moreover, a support vector machine (SVM) classifier was able to recognize the three classes of interaction with an accuracy greater than 78%. Preliminary significant results showed the discrimination of three distinct real human-animal interaction levels. These results open the measurement and characterization of the already empirically-proven relationship between human and horse.