Department of Information Science and Technology professor Vivian G. Motti, Volgenau, is collaborating with Clemson University and Dartmouth on “Computational Jewelry for Mobile Health” as part of a one-year, $14.4K National Science Foundation grant. The Amulet bracelet goes beyond fitness tracking and can be used to help people stop smoking, manage their stress and lose weight. It also can remind wearers when it’s time to take a dose of medication and even give health data to first responders if the user has a medical emergency. Motti is focused on the user-centered design of the device — interaction and interface aspects. The idea is to have a body-area network that senses data from different body parts (physiological or environmental data) to aid and understand a certain medical/behavioral condition, raise users’ awareness, and in a long term goal, also provide early diagnosis and/or personalized interventions. What Motti learns will be used to refine and improve the bracelet soon to be seen on a wrist near you.
