Wearables and accelerometry · Software
GGIR
Processes raw wrist and hip accelerometer data into physical activity, sleep, and circadian metrics.
What GGIR is
GGIR is an R package developed by Vincent T van Hees and Jairo H Migueles. It is designed to process multi-day raw accelerometer recordings collected from wearable devices.
The software addresses the challenge of converting raw sensor data from wrist and hip monitors into interpretable physiological indicators. It is widely used to derive physical activity patterns, sleep characteristics, and circadian rhythm measures in research cohorts.
How it works
GGIR ingests multi-day raw acceleration data from wrist or hip placements. It applies methods such as automated sensor calibration described by van Hees et al. (2014) and estimates sleep and rest periods using algorithms such as the heuristic algorithm looking at distribution of change in z-angle (HDCZA) from van Hees et al. (2018).
Key facts
- Software type
- R package
- Distribution channel
- CRAN
- Input data
- Multi-day raw accelerometer recordings (wrist or hip)
- Output metrics
- Physical activity, sleep, and circadian measures
What you can use it for
- Physical activity assessment
- Deriving activity metrics from multi-day raw acceleration recorded at the hip or wrist.
- Sleep analysis
- Detecting sleep windows and assessing sleep variables from continuous wearable recordings using algorithms like HDCZA.
Run it here
Ask the research agent and it runs GGIR as a job on a dedicated machine, then reads the results back to you. Nothing to install, and it keeps running if you close the page.
Try asking
“Process this accelerometer file with GGIR and summarise sleep and activity.”
Strengths and limits
Good at
- Processes raw multi-day data directly from wrist and hip accelerometer placements.
- Incorporates established calibration algorithms directly into the data processing pipeline.
- Provides automated estimation of both waking physical activity and sleep parameters.
Watch out for
- Requires multi-day raw accelerometer recordings as input rather than pre-processed count data.
Questions
Can I run GGIR online without installing it?
Ask the research agent and it runs GGIR as a job on a dedicated machine, then reads the results back to you. Nothing to install, and it keeps running if you close the page.
What licence is GGIR under?
Apache-2.0. The terms are published at https://github.com/wadpac/GGIR.
Which sensor wear locations does GGIR support?
The package processes raw accelerometer recordings collected from the wrist and hip.
How is GGIR distributed?
It is available as an R package installed via CRAN.
What algorithms does GGIR include for sleep classification?
It implements sleep algorithms including the HDCZA method described by van Hees et al. (2018).
How to cite it
Migueles et al. (J Meas Phys Behav 2019)
Written from GGIR's own README and project page. Statements citing a figure that does not appear there are removed before publication. Licence and running details come from our registry.