hello,
I've developed a reaction time test with arduino. The stimulus is brought to the subject through a vibracall motor; the reaction time is computed from the moment the subject press a momentary switch.
I would like to substitute the momentary switch with something that could leave the hands free...I cannot make any hypotesis on the activity that the subject is carrying during the test...any idea?
roberto
You are saying this is not in a controlled environment? The subject may be walking or driving around town, sleeping?
You want them to respond, without using their hands? I would think a verbal response would be second best.
What are you doing anyway? More details please.
You're right, too few details.
The project deals with the detection of drowsiness of operators onboard on ships, in particular in the dashboard (something like this https://www.google.it/search?q=ponte+di+comando+nave&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=nfslUvqMO8qGtAbroIHoBw&ved=0CAcQ_AUoAQ&biw=1920&bih=979#facrc=_&imgdii=_&imgrc=zjK_8oSB-S0NbM%3A%3Bctgj-yU7XWoocM%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fi209.photobucket.com%252Falbums%252Fbb38%252Fbucintoro%252Flcopia.jpg%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fforum.crocieristi.it%252Fshowthread.php%252F2679-Ponte%3B1024%3B768). The kind of task the operator is executing is not specified, so I don't want to consider the pression of a button as a way to detect the reaction time because I want the operator can keep his hands free.
Thanks for the suggestion, but in this context the commander uses to communicate commands by voice and the personnel repeats the commadn to eliminate any misunderstanding.
I think that other "oh!" "ya!" "weeee!" would not be appreciated...
not sleeping, of course...but walking, computer working, etc...they should wear the arduino prototype at the arm, and a tennis cuff with the haptic stimulator inside..
Ok, now that we know more, my first thought would be a button/sensor on one or both shoulders (to front). If you have it on both shoulders, and one hand is really busy, then they can use the other hand to signal.
Or you could put on the arduino on their arm.
the movement of the arm towards the shoulder introduces another time, which sums up to the reaction time..and I don't want this...
mmm...I'm thinking of a sensor detecting eye blink...or something of this kind...something that could be activated not by hand or arm...
I have a tilt sensor, a ultrasonic sensor and some other stuff...
probably this could be useful...
windrob73 has a good Idea... But you'll get some false positives with that.
How about a presure in a shoe? You just need to tune it so the person need to stomp his/her foot harder then when he/she walks/stands up.
If that doesn't work you can always use this sensor: Methane CNG Gas Sensor - MQ-4 - SEN-09404 - SparkFun Electronics (no explanation needed 
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