What is Unobtrusive

There are a number of situations in the context of health and wellness where it is desirable to monitor a user for a period of time – either for short term assessment or longer term monitoring. It is further desirable, especially for long term monitoring, that the device chosen to do so has a minimal impact on the user. This form of monitoring is unobtrusive monitoring and uses wearable technology to achieve its aims. This chapter presents an overview of unobtrusive monitoring using wearable devices, discusses some common device types and the data that are available and makes some recommendations for factors to consider when choosing or designing a device for unobtrusive monitoring.