̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge - smartphone

Problematic smartphone use linked to poorer grades, alcohol misuse and more sexual partners

cjb250 — Thu, 04 Jul 2019 16:09:42 +0000

Smartphones offer the potential of instant, round-the-clock access for making phone calls, playing games, gambling, chatting with friends, using messenger systems, accessing web services (e.g. websites, social networks and pornography), and searching for information. ̽��ֱ��number of users is rapidly increasing, with some estimates suggesting that there are now more than 2.7 billion users worldwide.

While most people using smartphones find them a helpful and positive part of life, a minority of users develop excessive smartphone use, meaning that smartphone use has significant negative effects on how people function in life. Previous research has linked excessive smartphone use to mental health issues such as anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and problems with self-esteem.

A collaborative team of researchers from the ̽��ֱ�� of Chicago, ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge, and the ̽��ֱ�� of Minnesota, developed the Health and Addictive Behaviours Survey to assess mental health and well-being in a large sample of university students. They used the survey to investigate the impact of smartphone use on university students. Just over a third (3,425) of students invited to take the test responded. ̽��ֱ��results are published today in the Journal of Behavioral Addictions.

̽��ֱ��self-report survey consisted of 156 questions. Based on their responses, the students were given a score ranging from 10 to 60, with a score of 32 and above being defined as problematic smartphone use. This definition was based on a threshold recommended previously in clinical validation studies using the scale. Typical characteristics of problematic use include: excessive use; trouble concentrating in class or at work due to smartphone use; feeling fretful or impatient without their smartphone; missing work due to smartphone use; and experiencing physical consequences of excessive use, such as light-headedness or blurred vision.

̽��ֱ��researchers found that one in five (20%) of respondents reported problematic smartphone use.

Problematic smartphone use was greater among female rather than male students – 64% of problem users were female. Importantly, the researchers found a link between problematic smartphone use and lower grade point averages (academic achievement).

“Although the effect of problematic smartphone use on grade point averages was relatively small, it’s worth noting that even a small negative impact could have a profound effect on an individual’s academic achievement and then on their employment opportunities in later life,” said Professor Jon Grant from the Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Neuroscience at the ̽��ֱ�� of Chicago.

While students reporting problematic smartphone use tended be less sexually active than their peers (70.9% compared to 74%), the proportion of students reporting two or more sexual partners in the past 12 months was significantly higher among problem users: 37.4% of sexually-active problematic smartphone users compared with 27.2% sexually-active students who reported no problem use. ̽��ֱ��proportion with six or more sexual partners was more than double among sexually-active problematic smartphone users (6.8% compared to 3.0%).

“Smartphones can help connect people and help people feel less isolated, and our findings suggest that they may act as an avenue for sexual contact, whether through sustained partnerships or more casual sex,” added Dr Sam Chamberlain, Wellcome Trust Clinical Fellow and Honorary Consultant Psychiatrist from the Department of Psychiatry at the ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge and the Cambridge & Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust.

̽��ֱ��researchers found that alcohol misuse was significantly higher in those with problematic smartphone use compared to the control group. To assess this, the team used a scale known as the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test: a score of eight or above indicates harmful alcohol use. 33.3% of problematic smartphone users scored eight or above compared to 22.5% of other smartphone users. ̽��ֱ��researchers found no significant link with any other form of substance abuse or addiction.

In terms of other mental health problems, the researchers found that problematic smartphone use was significantly associated with lower self-esteem, ADHD, depression, anxiety, and PTSD, mirroring similar findings elsewhere.

“It’s easy to think of problematic smartphone use as an addiction, but if it was that simple, we would expect it to be associated with a wide range of substance misuse problems, especially in such a large sample, but this does not seem to be the case,” added Dr Sam Chamberlain.

“One possible explanation for these results is that people develop excessive smartphone use because of other mental health difficulties. For example, people who are socially isolated, those who experience depression or anxiety, or those who have attention problems (as in ADHD) may be more prone to excessive smartphone use, as well as to using alcohol. Smartphone use likely develops earlier in life – on average – than alcohol use problems and so it is unlikely that alcohol use itself leads to smartphone use.”

While the sample size for this study was relative large, suggesting that the findings should be fairly robust, the researchers point out that as a cross-sectional study (one that takes a ‘snapshot’ at one particular time, rather than following people over a longer period), and so direction of causality cannot be established. In other words, the study cannot say that problematic smartphone use leads to mental health issues or vice versa.

̽��ֱ��researchers point out the effect sizes were also generally small, and that more research is needed into positive and negative effects of smartphone use and mental health, including how this changes over time.

Reference
Problematic Smart Phone Use is Associated with Greater Alcohol Consumption, Mental Health Issues, Poorer Academic Performance, and Impulsivity. Journal of Behavioral Addictions; Date; DOI: 10.1556/2006.8.2019.32

A survey of more than 3,400 university students in the USA has found that one in five respondents reported problematic smartphone use. Female students were more likely be affected and problematic smartphone use was associated with lower grade averages, mental health problems and higher numbers of sexual partners.

It’s easy to think of problematic smartphone use as an addiction, but if it was that simple, we would expect it to be associated with a wide range of substance misuse problems

Sam Chamberlain

Free Photos

Smartphone

̽��ֱ��text in this work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. Images, including our videos, are Copyright © ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge and licensors/contributors as identified. All rights reserved. We make our image and video content available in a number of ways – as here, on our main website under its Terms and conditions, and on a range of channels including social media that permit your use and sharing of our content under their respective Terms.

Yes

Cambridge leads governmental project to understand impact of smartphones and social media on young people

cjb250 — Thu, 16 Jan 2025 00:01:37 +0000

̽��ֱ��work has been commissioned by the UK government’s Department for Science, Innovation and Technology after a review by the UK Chief Medical Officer in 2019 found the evidence base around the links to children’s mental health were insufficient to provide strong conclusions suitable to inform policy.

̽��ֱ��project – led by a team at the ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge, in collaboration with researchers at several leading UK universities – is aimed at improving policymakers’ understanding of the relationship between children’s wellbeing and smartphone use, including social media and messaging. It will help direct future government action in this area.

Project lead Dr Amy Orben from the Medical Research Council Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit (MRC CBU) at the ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge said: “There is huge concern about the impact of smartphone use on children's health, but the evidence base remains fairly limited. While the government is under substantial time pressure to make decisions, these will undoubtedly be better if based on improved evidence.

“This is a complex and rapidly evolving issue, with both potential harms and benefits associated with smartphone use. Technology is changing by the day, and scientific evidence creation needs to evolve and innovate to keep up.

“Our focus will be on deepening our causal understanding of the effects of new technologies, particularly over short timescales, to ensure that decisions are informed, timely and evidence-based.”

Dr Orben will lead a Project Delivery Team, with Consortium Members from the universities of Bath, Birmingham, Bristol, Glasgow, Manchester, Nottingham, Oxford and York and the London School of Economics. It will aim to identify which research methods and data sources will be most effective at identifying potential causal relationships between social media, smartphones, and the health and development of children and young people

Deputy project lead Dr Amrit Kaur Purba, also from the MRC CBU at Cambridge, said: “ ̽��ֱ��impact of social media on young people is a pressing issue, and our project will ensure the research community is in a strong position to provide policymakers with the causal and high-quality insights they need. While we don’t expect this to be straightforward, our research will leverage diverse expertise from across the UK to deliver a comprehensive and informed response to make recommendations for how research in this area should be supported in future.”

̽��ֱ��researchers will review and summarise existing research on the impact of smartphones and social media on children and young people’s mental health, wellbeing, physical health, lifestyle and health behaviours, and educational attainment. ̽��ֱ��review will recognise the diversity of perspectives that exist in this area and consider where further research could add valuable new insights to the evidence base.

They will assess the various methods and data available to understand the causal impacts, including recognising that online habits and emerging technologies are changing at a rapid pace, and considering how the experiences of vulnerable children and young people – for example, LGBTQ+ young people and those with special needs or mental health issues – can be captured in future research projects.

This will allow the team to recommend and outline how future research studies could deliver robust and causal evidence on the impact of smartphones and social media on child development factors in the next two to three years.

Technology Secretary Peter Kyle, said: " ̽��ֱ��online world offers immense opportunities for young people to connect and learn. Ensuring they can do so in an environment which puts their safety first is my priority and will guide this government’s action on online safety.

“That’s why we have launched new research, led by the ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge with support from other top UK universities, to better understand the complex relationship between technology and young people's wellbeing.

“This vital research will build a trusted evidence base for future action, helping us to protect and empower the next generation towards a safer and more positive digital future."

Cambridge researchers are leading the first phase of a new research project that will lay the groundwork for future studies into the impact on children of smartphone and social media use.

This is a complex and rapidly evolving issue, with both potential harms and benefits associated with smartphone use. Technology is changing by the day, and scientific evidence creation needs to evolve and innovate to keep up

Amy Orben

Owen Franken

Teenager holding a smartphone

̽��ֱ��text in this work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. Images, including our videos, are Copyright © ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge and licensors/contributors as identified. All rights reserved. We make our image and video content available in a number of ways – on our main website under its Terms and conditions, and on a range of channels including social media that permit your use and sharing of our content under their respective Terms.

Yes

Smartphone screens effective sensors for soil or water contamination

sc604 — Thu, 22 Jul 2021 15:36:55 +0000

Researchers from the ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge have demonstrated how a typical touchscreen could be used to identify common ionic contaminants in soil or drinking water by dropping liquid samples on the screen, the first time this has been achieved. ̽��ֱ��sensitivity of the touchscreen sensor is comparable to typical lab-based equipment, which would make it useful in low-resource settings.

̽��ֱ��researchers say their proof of concept could one day be expanded for a wide range of sensing applications, including for biosensing or medical diagnostics, right from the phone in your pocket. ̽��ֱ��results are reported in the journal Sensors and Actuators B.

Touchscreen technology is ubiquitous in our everyday lives: the screen on a typical smartphone is covered in a grid of electrodes, and when a finger disrupts the local electric field of these electrodes, the phone interprets the signal.

Other teams have used the computational power of a smartphone for sensing applications, but these have relied on the camera or peripheral devices, or have required significant changes to be made to the screen.

“We wanted to know if we could interact with the technology in a different way, without having to fundamentally change the screen,” said Dr Ronan Daly from Cambridge’s Institute of Manufacturing, who co-led the research. “Instead of interpreting a signal from your finger, what if we could get a touchscreen to read electrolytes, since these ions also interact with the electric fields?”

̽��ֱ��researchers started with computer simulations, and then validated their simulations using a stripped down, standalone touchscreen, provided by two UK manufacturers, similar to those used in phones and tablets.

̽��ֱ��researchers pipetted different liquids onto the screen to measure a change in capacitance and recorded the measurements from each droplet using the standard touchscreen testing software. Ions in the fluids all interact with the screen's electric fields differently depending on the concentration of ions and their charge.

“Our simulations showed where the electric field interacts with the fluid droplet. In our experiments, we then found a linear trend for a range of electrolytes measured on the touchscreen,” said first author Sebastian Horstmann, a PhD candidate at IfM. “ ̽��ֱ��sensor saturates at an anion concentration of around 500 micromolar, which can be correlated to the conductivity measured alongside. This detection window is ideal to sense ionic contamination in drinking water.”

One early application for the technology could be to detect arsenic contamination in drinking water. Arsenic is another common contaminant found in groundwater in many parts of the world, but most municipal water systems screen for it and filter it out before it reaches a household tap. However, in parts of the world without water treatment plants, arsenic contamination is a serious problem.

“In theory, you could add a drop of water to your phone before you drink it, in order to check that it’s safe,” said Daly.

At the moment, the sensitivity of phone and tablet screens is tuned for fingers, but the researchers say the sensitivity could be changed in a certain part of the screen by modifying the electrode design in order to be optimised for sensing.

“ ̽��ֱ��phone’s software would need to communicate with that part of the screen to deliver the optimum electric field and be more sensitive for the target ion, but this is achievable,” said Professor Lisa Hall from Cambridge’s Department of Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology, who co-led the research. “We’re keen to do much more on this – it’s just the first step.”

While it’s now possible to detect ions using a touchscreen, the researchers hope to further develop the technology so that it can detect a wide range of molecules. This could open up a huge range of potential health applications.

“For example, if we could get the sensitivity to a point where the touchscreen could detect heavy metals, it could be used to test for things like lead in drinking water. We also hope in the future to deliver sensors for home health monitoring,” said Daly.

“This is a starting point for broader exploration of the use of touchscreen sensing in mobile technologies and the creation of tools that are accessible to everyone, allowing rapid measurements and communication of data,” said Hall.

Reference:
Sebastian Horstmann, Cassi J Henderson, Elizabeth A H Hall, Ronan Daly ‘Capacitive touchscreen sensing - a measure of electrolyte conductivity.’ Sensors and Actuators B (2021). DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.snb.2021.130318

̽��ֱ��touchscreen technology used in billions of smartphones and tablets could also be used as a powerful sensor, without the need for any modifications.

Instead of interpreting a signal from your finger, what if we could get a touchscreen to read electrolytes, since these ions also interact with the electric fields?

Ronan Daly

Sebastian video diary - Cambridge Festival

̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge

Yes

̽��ֱ��doctor using smartphones to save lives in war zones

cg605 — Mon, 04 Feb 2019 09:30:46 +0000

Having survived the civil war in Afghanistan, alumnus Waheed Arian arrived alone in the UK aged 15. He went on to study medicine at Trinity Hall, Cambridge. Today he’s using smartphones to save lives in war zones.

Physical activity, even in small amounts, benefits both physical and psychological well-being

sc604 — Thu, 05 Jan 2017 10:54:03 +0000

A new study, based on reports from more than 10,000 individuals, has found that physical activity, whether or not it is classified as exercise, can have a positive effect on emotional well-being. ̽��ֱ��results, by researchers from the ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge and the ̽��ֱ�� of Essex, are reported in the journal PLOS ONE, and demonstrate how smartphones can be used to collect large-scale data to examine psychological, behavioural and health-related phenomena as they occur in everyday life.

Using data gathered from users of a mood tracking app for Android phones, the researchers found that modest levels of physical activity – even if it couldn’t be classified as exercise – can increase a person’s reported emotional well-being, regardless of their baseline level of happiness. They also found that people reported being happier when they were physically active.

Earlier studies in this area have focused on the relationship between exercise and happiness, with mixed results. Some studies have found that happier people report exercising more, while others have found no relationship between happiness and exercise. Much of this past research has relied solely on retrospective self-reports, on data collected at only one time period, and on small samples.

For the new study, data on physical activity was passively gathered from smartphone accelerometers, and participants were also sent a short survey at two random intervals throughout the day which asked questions about their emotional state. Users reported their emotional state on a grid, based on how positive or negative, and how energetic or sleepy, they were feeling. Users were also asked a handful of questions about how their mood compared to normal.

̽��ֱ��activity data was then averaged over the course of the day, so while the researchers could not pinpoint what participants were doing at any given time, they found that participants who had higher levels of activity throughout the day reported a more positive emotional state.

“Our data show that happy people are more active in general,” said the paper’s senior author Dr Jason Rentfrow, from Cambridge’s Department of Psychology and a Fellow of Fitzwilliam College. “However, our analyses also indicated that periods of physical activity led to increased positive mood, regardless of individuals’ baseline happiness. There have been many studies about the positive psychological effects of exercise, but what we’ve found is that in order to be happier, you don’t have to go out and run a marathon – all you’ve really got to do is periodically engage in slight physical activity throughout the day.”

“Most of us don’t keep track of all of our movements during the day,” said study co-author Dr Gillian Sandstrom from the Department of Psychology at the ̽��ֱ�� of Essex. “A person might track whether they went for a walk or went to the gym, but when asked, most of them probably wouldn’t remember walking from the desk to the photocopier, or from the car to the office door.”

“This study shows how mobile and wearable technology really can allow social psychologists to perform large longitudinal studies as well as open a direct and permanent connection with the users for advice and intervention,” said study co-author Professor Cecilia Mascolo from Cambridge’s Computer Laboratory.

̽��ֱ��research was supported by the UK Engineering and Physical Research Council’s UBhave (Ubiquitous and Social Computing for Positive Behaviour Change) project.

Reference:
Lathia, N. Sandstrom, G.M., Mascolo, C., & Rentfrow, P.J. ‘Happier people live more active lives: Using smartphones to link happiness and physical activity.’ PLOS ONE (2016). https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0160589

̽��ֱ��largest-ever smartphone-based study examining the relationship between physical activity and happiness has found that even minimal levels of activity can have a positive effect on happiness.

In order to be happier, you don’t have to go out and run a marathon.

Jason Rentfrow

Walking

̽��ֱ��text in this work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. For image use please see separate credits above.

Yes

Licence type:

Attribution

Mood-tracking app paves way for pocket therapy

tdk25 — Wed, 08 May 2013 04:00:42 +0000

A smartphone app that tracks people’s feelings and works out what might be triggering peaks in their mood, using the data invisibly captured by their phones, has been developed by researchers.

̽��ֱ��free app, called “Emotion Sense” has just been launched and is available for Android. It takes advantage of the fact that smartphones are increasingly capable of collecting information about where we are, how noisy our environment is, how much we are moving around, and who we communicate with.

Unlike other, similar, research projects, Emotion Sense then combines systematically-gathered data from a wide range of sensors with the user’s own report about their mood, which is entered through a system designed by psychologists. First, the user is asked to mark how they feel using an on-screen matrix called an “emotion grid”. Based on their response, the phone then conducts a brief survey, to clarify their emotional state.

By cross-referring both sets of data, the app’s designers hope that it will accumulate a very precise record of what drives people’s emotional peaks, showing, for example, when they are likely to be at their most stressed, or when they feel most relaxed. This could prove particularly valuable for helping people who need specialist psychological support.

Emotion Sense is also a live research project. ̽��ֱ�� ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge-led team behind it previously carried out lab-based investigations in which participants were asked to record their feelings in a diary. ̽��ֱ��new system allows them to gather data about both the drivers of people’s moods, and how far smartphones can record this, in a “real world” setting.

Dr Neal Lathia, a research associate in the ̽��ֱ��’s Computer Laboratory, explained: “Behind the scenes, smartphones are constantly collecting data that can turn them into a key medical and psychological tool. Any smartphone now comes with numerous sensors that can tell you about aspects of your life, like how active you are, or how sociable you have been in the past 24 hours. In the long term, we hope to be able to extract that data so that, for example, it can be used for therapeutic purposes.”

̽��ֱ��app was created as part of a wider project, funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, called “Ubiquitous and Social Computing for Positive Behaviour Change” (or “UBhave”). Its overall aim is to see how far mobile phones can be used to monitor people’s behaviour and, where appropriate, change it for the better to improve their health and well-being.

“Most people who see a therapist may only have an appointment once every fortnight,” Dr Cecilia Mascolo, a reader in mobile systems at the Cambridge Computer Lab said. “Many, however, keep their phones with them most of the time. In terms of sheer presence, mobiles can provide an ongoing link with a person.”

Researchers have long been interested in the potential of mobile phones to monitor people’s behaviour. By combining the data from the GPS, accelerometer, and microphone with a log of the user’s calling and texting patterns, a study of a person’s smartphone can offer a very useful record of their habits, activities and routines.

Previous research by the Emotion Sense team focused on the potential of the microphone, tracking users’ conversations to work out how they were feeling. ̽��ֱ��research now seeks to exploit a wider range of sensors, combined with self-reporting from the user themselves, who can input data about how they feel.

When Emotion Sense is opened for the first time, only one sensor is “unlocked”. ̽��ֱ��app spends roughly a week collecting data from this sensor and testing it against the user’s emotional state. At the end of this, the user is asked to complete a short life-satisfaction survey, which unlocks a new sensor. After about eight weeks, a full range of sensors has been tested. This systematic approach provides the researchers with valuable data for study, but it is also designed as a “journey of discovery” for the user, giving them a step-by-step insight into what might be influencing their own mood swings.

Mood itself is registered through a system designed by psychologists within the research team. At different times of the day, the app sends the user a notification, rather like receiving a text message, asking them about their mood. These can be set to pop up on the phone as little as twice a day, and assess the user’s mood using a custom-designed “emotion grid”, followed by a survey.

̽��ֱ��grid has two axes, one stretching from “negative” to “positive” feelings, and one from “active” to “inactive”. Using their touchscreen, the user simply chooses the point on the grid that reflects how positive and active they feel. For example, a point close to the top right indicates high positivity and activity, suggesting that they feel energised or excited.

Uniquely, this general overview is then refined by a short survey, which asks the user to clarify exactly how they feel. ̽��ֱ��entire process takes about two minutes to complete.

“Most other attempts at software like this are coarse-grained in terms of their view of what a feeling is,” Dr Jason Rentfrow, Senior Lecturer in the Department of Psychology at the ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge, said. “Many just look at emotion in terms of feeling happy, sad, angry or neutral. ̽��ֱ��aim here is to use a more flexible approach, to collect data that shows how moods vary between people . That is something which we think is quite unique to the system we have designed.”

̽��ֱ��code which is used in Emotion Sense to collect sensor data from people’s phones is also being made available on an open-source basis so that other researchers can conduct their own experiments. It can be found at http://emotionsense.org/code.html. For information about the app in general, visit: http://emotionsense.org

For more information about this story, please contact: Tom Kirk, Office of Communications, ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge. Tel: 01223 332300; Mob: 07764 161923; Email: thomas.kirk@admin.cam.ac.uk

An Android app which keeps tabs on users’ mood swings and works out what might be causing them has been developed by researchers, with implications for psychological therapy and improving well-being.

Behind the scenes, smartphones are constantly collecting data that can turn them into a key medical and psychological tool.

Neal Lathia

Neal Lathia, ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge Computer Lab

̽��ֱ��Emotion Sense app asks users to record their feelings on a chart designed by psychologists, then surveys them further to assess their mood accurately. This is cross-referred with data about their behaviour, picked up by sensors within the phone itself

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Licence. If you use this content on your site please link back to this page.

Yes

Can your phone double up as your life-coach?

fpjl2 — Sat, 29 Dec 2012 08:00:01 +0000

On January 1^st, millions of people will wake up with their sore heads full of New Year resolutions to achieve more fulfilling, less stressful lives. Now, researchers are developing a data-gathering mobile platform to help identify the causes of stress for individuals and encourage people to build healthier, happier lifestyles - something that could become a preventative measure for a huge number of medical conditions.

Between use of a phone’s inbuilt sensors and monitoring from local sources, the Android Remote Sensing app, or AIRS, can gather a huge amount of data - from environmental aspects such as location, weather, noise levels, even vicinity devices to gauge crowds, to social aspects such as calendar events and communication spikes in email, text and calls - providing a startlingly informed account of a person’s day.

This automatic recording is coupled with the ability to add emotional data by updating your mood through a series of emoticons, along with text annotations. ECG or heart rate sensors can also be used to show physiological reactions.

All this feeds into a person’s unique life “narrative” to determine what the researchers describe as “meaningful events” - those combinations which trigger stress and strong emotion.

“By steering people to become self-aware of stress and activity management, systems such as AIRS may be able to help people before they develop health problems in later life, when costly treatments are required with limited success,” said Dr Dirk Trossen, technical manager of the project at Cambridge’s Computer Laboratory.

“ ̽��ֱ��time before prescribed medicine is critical in prevention and cutting costs for health services. This requires close monitoring and awareness of lifestyle on the part of individuals - so if the ubiquitous phone in your pocket can also assist with better living in general it’s a win/win situation.”

AIRS provides essential input for the desktop-based MyRoR platform for lifestyle management, developed by Dana Pavel from the ̽��ֱ�� of Essex’s School of Computer Science, as part of the wider PAL project. ̽��ֱ��project - funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council and the Technology Strategy Board - is investigating personal and social communication services for health and lifestyle monitoring.

̽��ֱ��MyRoR platform correlates this information and delivers it as an easy to digest blog-style timeline, allowing the user to detect spikes in various activities and surroundings - and their relation to the diarised emotional values and physiological symptoms of stress.

̽��ֱ��outputs from Pavel’s MyRoR platform are sets of sharable graphics that provide a user-friendly entry into the complex data, offering the “essence” of the individual’s day or week. “ ̽��ֱ��graphics, or media objects, that present the visual story are a more natural way of representing the dense information, bringing it all together in a fun, concise and engaging way,” said Dana Pavel, from Essex’s School of Computer Science. “These stories allow users to hone in on what’s important, the situations with most meaning.”

Users can then employ the AIRS app to craft lifestyle approaches that help flatten stress levels - such as automatic settings that suspend email and calls at key points to create pockets of calm in the day - which can continue beyond initial physical monitoring to support a more balanced life.

There have been a number of user tests - with both ECG monitoring and just the smartphone app - and feedback from users has been positive. “ ̽��ֱ��platform gives people the opportunity to step outside their lives and analyse in-depth contextual data from their day to day existence - an important chance for serious reflection on aspects of daily life that are impacting perhaps without even realising,” said Trossen.

Importantly for the researchers, given the personal nature of the data, information security and software transparency have been paramount. All personal data is stored locally, and is wiped if a phone is stolen and unlocked, and the app has been made ‘open source’ - with all hard coding accessible - and freely available through Google Play.

“This kind of assisted living though mobile technologies is in its infancy, but it is essential that solutions adapt to people, not the other way around, said Trossen.

“Systems should enhance lives and help involve individuals in the information that is having an impact on them every minute.”

For more information, please contact Dirk Trossen on dt355@cam.ac.uk

Researchers are developing a smartphone platform that enables careful monitoring of lifestyle to pinpoint and help avert triggers for stress and negative emotion.

If the ubiquitous phone in your pocket can also assist with better living in general it’s a win/win situation.

Dirk Trossen

AIRS widgets on the Android home screen

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Licence. If you use this content on your site please link back to this page.

Yes

Your chance to ‘scream in space’ using smartphone technology

fpjl2 — Thu, 25 Oct 2012 13:04:33 +0000

It was Ridley Scott’s film Alien that gave us the now legendary tagline: In space no one can hear you scream. Now, a Cambridge student society will use the technology in your pocket to find out if this is really the case.

Cambridge ̽��ֱ�� Spaceflight (CUSF) will be uploading videos of people screaming into a specially developed smartphone app, housed on a Google Android phone that will be shot into space as part of a satellite payload in early December. Once in orbit, the phone will play the screams at full volume, while at the same time recording audio.

̽��ֱ��phone will then relay back to Earth pictures of each ‘scream’ video playing against the spectacular view from the phone's inbuilt camera, along with a sound file that may or may not contain the scream captured in the vacuum of space, although the members of CUSF are not holding their collective breath.

“Obviously, we’re not expecting to get much back, there may be some buzzing, but this is more about getting young people interested in satellites and acoustics, perhaps encouraging them to consider future study in science or engineering” said Edward Cunningham, a physics undergraduate at Churchill College and one of the members of CUSF.

With this in mind, the team are asking members of the public to submit their own screams for galactic transmission - by uploading a short ‘scream’ video to YouTube, and submitting their entry.

Each video must be at most ten seconds long, and there will be ten winning screams which can be voted for by the public on the project’s website. Screams must be entered before midnight on Sunday 4th November, after which the winning videos will be announced and loaded onto the phone in readiness for a launch before the end of this year.

̽��ֱ��‘scream in space’ app is one of four phone apps that will be on board STRaND-1 - a smartphone nanosatellite - built by a team from Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd and the ̽��ֱ�� of Surrey’s Space Centre. During the summer of 2011, the STRaND (Surrey Training Research and Nanosatellite Demonstration) team ran a Facebook competition to find apps to go into orbit - and CUSF’s screaming app was one of the winners.

“We came across the competition and wanted to enter, which got us thinking about what smartphones have that a standard satellite doesn’t,” said Cunningham. “Smartphones have got a speaker and a microphone, so we wanted to do something engaging with these functions.”

̽��ֱ��STRaND-1 project will be testing the capabilities of a smartphone to control a satellite in space. ̽��ֱ��phone will run on Android's open-source operating system. A computer, built at the Surrey Space Centre, will test the vital statistics of the phone once in space. When all the tests are complete, the plan is to switch off the micro-computer and the smartphone will be used to operate parts of the satellite. At its lowest, the phone will orbit 400km above the Earth, roughly the same as the International Space Station.

"Modern smartphones are pretty amazing," said Shaun Kenyon, the project manager at Surrey Satellite Technology. “We want to see if the phone works up there, and if it does, we want to see if the phone can control a satellite."

Using smartphone technology to control space hardware is something that CUSF themselves continue to explore. ̽��ֱ��student society has already sent several Android smartphones into the stratosphere as flight computers for high altitude balloon launches, building custom apps to navigate.

“This project reflects the gradual shift of the space sector out of the exclusive domain of governments with multi-billion budgets, and into the hands of smaller ventures,” said Cunningham. “With the Android phone, you benefit from the extensive development carried out in the consumer context, and for almost no money at all. It's no coincidence that NASA has a PhoneSat project of their own.”

CUSF have previously shown that an Android phone works successfully as a standalone flight computer at a similar altitude to the one Felix Baumgartner recently performed his skydive from, but the opportunity to produce an app to run on the first smartphone in orbit is one CUSF members are thrilled about:

“ ̽��ֱ��principle of using a low-cost consumer device to do something high tech and new on a shoestring budget is something we really endorse. We often use readily available materials in our own projects,” said Cunningham.

“STRaND-1 is doing something that has never been done before and something you definitely can’t do every day. We see the project as a great opportunity to promote interest in space and also have some fun!”

For more information, contact Fred Lewsey (fred.lewsey@admin.cam.ac.uk) at the ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge Office of External Affairs and Communications.

Cambridge students will be loading human screams onto a smartphone that will be blasted into outer space later this year. ̽��ֱ��public are invited to submit their screams, which will be emitted while in orbit at the same time as the phone records - to test if it’s possible to capture the sound of screaming in space.

It's no coincidence that NASA has a PhoneSat project of their own.

Edward Cunningham

CUSF

Image taken in stratosphere using Android phone, from previous CUSF project ‘Squirrel 3’ which used smartphone to pilot high-altitude balloon

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Licence. If you use this content on your site please link back to this page.

Yes