Scientists at Bristol University develop app using motion sensors on an Android smartwatch to deliver vibration alert with a text message when movements indicate cigarette use
Scientists have developed a smartwatch app to help smokers quit by buzzing them when they light up.
Bristol University researchers have developed an app which delivers a vibration alert with a text message when movements indicating cigarette use are detected. The team created software that uses motion sensors on an Android smartwatch to identify the typical hand movements of smoking.
The text message designed by smokers and former smokers offers support about stopping smoking onto the smartwatch screen. One message reads “Stopping smoking lets you breathe more easily.. Quitting is good”, while others contain a tally of how many cigarettes smoked and the total number of drags taken that day.
After reading the message, participants can swipe it away or press a button to display information about accessing the NHS stop smoking support pages online. Researcher Chris Stone said: “For those who are trying to give up, an initial lapse is a vulnerable moment, and risks leading to a full relapse to smoking.
“People like smartwatches. They like the idea of it delivering a message at the point that they smoke. Therefore, if we can identify this point of lapse, and deliver an intervention precisely at that point, we have an opportunity to improve the success of the quit attempt.”
In the study, published in JMIR Formative Research, the smartwatch app was tested on 18 people who were interested in quitting smoking. They wore a Ticwatch loaded with the app for two weeks, from the moment they woke up until they went to bed when they were instructed to charge it overnight.
At the end of the two-week period, they sent the watch back and completed a questionnaire consisting of 27 questions. In total, 66% of participants said it was acceptable to wear the smartwatch with the technology, while 61% of those in the study said the content of messages was relevant to them.
Positive feedback included people reporting that the app raised awareness of smoking, made them feel positive about quitting, made them stop and think and smoke slightly less. Negative responses were that repeated messages lost effectiveness.
Alizee Froguel, prevention policy manager at Cancer Research UK, said: “Smoking is the biggest cause of cancer in the UK and stopping completely is the best thing you can do for your health. This study shows that smartwatches could be a useful method to help people quit smoking, but more research is needed to understand how effective they are.
“There are many tools available to help people quit, and getting support from your free local stop smoking service will give you the best chance of stopping successfully. To help create a smokefree future, the UK government must ensure cessation services are sustainably funded and accessible for all.”
