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A novel way to conduct human studies and do some good

Published: 10 April 2010 Publication History

Abstract

In this paper the authors describe a novel way to conduct large-scale human studies achieving the maximum outreach and impact with the minimum cost. An iPhone health application, 'Walk n' Play', was developed and released for free in the App Store. The application measures calories spent due to walking activities through the iPhone's accelerometer. It is a real-time awareness tool that helps people to keep their sedentariness in check. Furthermore, it uses motivational mechanisms based on buddy support/competition and social networking to increase daily physical activity. The anonymous data gathered from thousands of users around the world, reveal patterns of human behavior at a resolution and scale not feasible before.

References

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Bouten, C. V., Koekkoek, K. T. M., Verduin, M., Kodde, R., and Janssen, J. D. A tri-axial accelerometer and portable data processing unit for the assessment of daily physical activity. IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering. 44(3), 136--147, 1997.
[2]
Fogg, B.J. Persuasive technology: Using computers to change what we think and do. Morgan Kauffmann Publishers, San Francisco, CA, USA, 2003.
[3]
Fujiki, Y., Kazakos, K., Puri, C., Starren, J., Pavlidis, I., and Levine J. NEAT-o-Games: Ubiquitous activity-based gaming. In Proceedings of the 2007 ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI), ACM Press (2007), 2369--2374.
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Fujiki, Y., Kazakos, K., Puri, C., Buddharaju, P., Pavlidis, I., and Levine, J. NEAT-o-Games: Blending physical activity and fun in the daily routine, ACM Computers in Entertainment, 6(2), 2008.
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Fujiki, Y., Tsiamyrtzis, P., and Pavlidis, I. Making sense of accelerometer measurements in pervasive physical activity applications. In Proceedings of the 2009 ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI), ACM Press (2009), 3425--3430.
[6]
Health and Fitness Category - App store. http://www.appstoreapps.com/category/healthfitness/.
[7]
Lin, J.J., Mamykina, L., Lindtner, S., Delajoux, G., and Strub, H.B. Fish'n'Steps: Encouraging physical activity with an interactive computer game. In Ubicomp 2006, Springer (2006), 261--278.
[8]
Walk n' Play. http://www.cpl.uh.edu/projects/walk-n-play.

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  • (2016)Evaluation of a mobile mindfulness app distributed through on-line storesInternational Journal of Human-Computer Studies10.1016/j.ijhcs.2015.09.00486:C(63-80)Online publication date: 1-Feb-2016
  • (2014)A Case Study of Research through the App StoreInternational Journal of Mobile Human Computer Interaction10.4018/ijmhci.20140401036:2(32-45)Online publication date: 1-Apr-2014
  • (2013)Categorised ethical guidelines for large scale mobile HCIProceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems10.1145/2470654.2466245(1853-1862)Online publication date: 27-Apr-2013
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  1. A novel way to conduct human studies and do some good

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    cover image ACM Conferences
    CHI EA '10: CHI '10 Extended Abstracts on Human Factors in Computing Systems
    April 2010
    2219 pages
    ISBN:9781605589305
    DOI:10.1145/1753846

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    New York, NY, United States

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    Published: 10 April 2010

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    Author Tags

    1. human studies
    2. iPhone applications
    3. physical activity

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    View all
    • (2016)Evaluation of a mobile mindfulness app distributed through on-line storesInternational Journal of Human-Computer Studies10.1016/j.ijhcs.2015.09.00486:C(63-80)Online publication date: 1-Feb-2016
    • (2014)A Case Study of Research through the App StoreInternational Journal of Mobile Human Computer Interaction10.4018/ijmhci.20140401036:2(32-45)Online publication date: 1-Apr-2014
    • (2013)Categorised ethical guidelines for large scale mobile HCIProceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems10.1145/2470654.2466245(1853-1862)Online publication date: 27-Apr-2013
    • (2011)Defensive research within the mobile marketplaceProceedings of the 2nd international workshop on Research in the large10.1145/2025528.2025531(5-8)Online publication date: 18-Sep-2011

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