Smart Cues Toolkit: Supporting Physical Activity at Home with Interactive Contextual Cues

体育运动是一剂灵丹妙药：即使是少量的运动也会对我们的健康和福祉产生积极的影响。然而，找时间锻炼是很困难的，特别是如果我们每天都有其他事情要做的话。一种解决方案是在我们的日常生活中增加运动，当我们做其他事情时，移动得更多一些，例如，刷牙时单腿站立，以保持我们的平衡。像这样的行为可以帮助我们在一天中增加更多的活动，而不需要额外的努力或找到时间--但我们仍然必须记住去做，这并不容易。但如果我们不需要记住呢？习惯可能会有所帮助。习惯性行为是自然而然的，不需要有意识的记忆。然而，任何试图养成一个新习惯的人都知道，这可能是困难的--特别是当这个习惯涉及到体育锻炼的时候。习惯是当行为在相同的环境中不断重复时形成的：在相同的地方，在相同的物体等情况下。随着时间的推移，环境和背景线索开始提示行为，使其自动发生。物联网(IoT)技术可以帮助我们控制这些背景线索，并创建我们自己的“智能线索”，这些线索是根据我们的日常生活和我们想要变成习惯的行为量身定做的。到目前为止，物联网已经用于家庭环境中，以帮助控制环境(例如控制灯光)和提供健康监测(例如跌倒检测)，但由于物联网技术通常成为家庭环境的一部分-而习惯的形成取决于环境-它们可以用于促进和支持习惯的养成。虽然关于使用物联网来支持行为改变的研究有限，但还没有研究重点放在支持习惯上，尽管行为的长期改变依赖于习惯的形成，以确保新行为继续下去。我们希望解决这一差距。该项目旨在将习惯养成研究应用于物联网系统(智能提示)的开发，以支持家庭锻炼习惯的养成。我们将开发一个智能提示工具包，其中将包括：一套智能提示的交互技术、设计模式、推荐材料和形状因素；一套经过验证的原型；以及展示实施挑战和解决方案的案例研究。该工具包将为开发支持身体活动习惯的家庭物联网系统提供指导，研究人员可以使用这些系统来帮助告知行为改变干预措施。该工具包的开发将取决于对用户需求、态度和期望的深入了解，以及确定智能提示如何最好地适合人们的家庭。因此，该工具包还将有利于其他类型的行为改变干预措施，这些干预措施依赖于新习惯的形成，例如家庭康复或支持可持续的行为。

Physical activity is a miracle drug: even a small amount of activity has a positive impact on our health and wellbeing. However, finding time to exercise is difficult, especially if we have other things to do every day. One solution is adding movement to our everyday routine and moving a bit more when we do other things, e.g., standing on one leg when brushing your teeth to work on our balance. Behaviours like that help to add more activity into our day without extra effort or having to find time - but we still have to remember to do it, which is not easy. But what if we did not have to remember?Habits could help. Habitual behaviours are automatic and do not require conscious remembering. However, as anyone who has ever tried to start a new habit knows, it can be difficult - especially if that habit involves physical activity. Habits form when the behaviour is consistently repeated in the same environment: in the same place, in the presence of the same objects, etc. It is the environment and contextual cues that with time start to prompt the behaviour so that it happens automatically. Internet of Things (IoT) technologies could help us control such contextual cues and create our own 'smart cues' that are tailored to our routines and the behaviours we want to turn into habits. So far IoT has been used in home settings to help control the environment (e.g. controlling lights) and provide health monitoring (e.g. fall detection), but as IoT technologies often become part of the home environment - and habits depend on the environment to form - they could be used to facilitate and support habit formation. While there has been limited research on the use of IoT to support behaviour change, no work has focused on supporting habits, even though long-term change in behaviour depends on the formation of habits to ensure that the new behaviour continues. We want to address this gap. This project aims to apply habit formation research to the development of IoT systems ('smart cues') that could support the formation of exercise habits at home. We will develop a Smart Cues Toolkit that will include: a set of interaction techniques, design patterns, recommended materials and form factors for smart cues; a set of validated prototypes; and case studies showcasing implementation challenges and solutions. The toolkit will provide guidance on developing home IoT systems for supporting physical activity habits that can be used by researchers to help inform behaviour change interventions. The development of the toolkit will depend on an in-depth understanding of users' needs, attitudes, and expectations, as well as identifying how smart cues could best fit into people's homes. As a result, the toolkit will also benefit other types of behaviour change interventions that rely on the formation of new habits, e.g. home-based rehabilitation or supporting sustainable behaviours.