FW-HTF: Collaborative Research: An Embodied Intelligent Cognitive Assistant to Enhance Cognitive Performance of Shift Workers

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The Future of Work at the Human-Technology Frontier (FW-HTF) is one of 10 new Big Ideas for Future Investment announced by NSF. The FW-HTF cross-directorate program aims to respond to the challenges and opportunities of the changing landscape of jobs and work by supporting convergent research. This award fulfills part of that aim.This project develops a closed-loop embodied Intelligent Cognitive Assistant (e-ICA) to infer circadian rhythm, alertness, and stress levels and to provide personalized feedback to enhance users' cognitive ability and wellbeing in an unobtrusive and effortless manner. Approximately 20% of the labor force engages in shift work, which often leads to inadequate and poor sleep. Being out of synch with one's natural body clock, or circadian rhythm, can lead to many complications over time, including a higher likelihood for cardiovascular disease, cancer, obesity, and mental health problems. In addition, there can be serious deficits in cognitive performance, with productivity loss and more accidents in the workplace. This research program will design and develop a novel sensor-based e-ICA that can monitor shift workers' circadian rhythms, sleep patterns, and stress levels. The platform will be flexible so that it can be used to study broad populations in addition to shift workers. Given that 70 percent of the population suffers from circadian rhythm disruption, this technology has the potential to impact a wide range of workers and firms. In addition, the anonymized data and information about developed hardware and software will be shared in the community. The technology will impact the needs of a broad cross-section of stakeholders, but will be tested initially with medical residents and other health practitioners who typically work long shift that change every few weeks. Moreover, this project will also allow interdisciplinary cross fertilization between science, engineering, psychology, sleep and circadian biology, and psychiatry.The investigators explore ways to provide biologically and physiologically attuned support in the areas of cognitive ability, performance, sleep, and well-being based on the inferred individual circadian rhythm and personalized embodied assistance by: a) passively and continuously gathering behavioral and physiological streams through wearable, mobile and remote devices from workers in an effortless manner; b) continuously inferring each person's individual circadian rhythm, alertness, and stress in daily life settings; and c) providing personalized multi-sensory feedback or actionable behavioral suggestions to modulate circadian rhythm, alertness and stress levels with the aim of enhancing cognitive ability, performance and wellbeing. The investigators will test the efficacy, usability and acceptability of the system both in a series of laboratory studies and in an in-situ work environment.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.