Smart wearables: utilizing persuasive devices to reduce sedentary time

Abstract

This research studied the effectiveness of alerts from smart wearables on health. Topics include sedentary behavior, smart wearables, and behavior modification. Building on work that shows alerts to be effective in various health and medical circumstances, this study asked participants to wear a device, specifically an Apple Watch, to measure a renewed area of interest in health research - effects of sedentary time on health. Metrics studied included a measure of sedentary time, calories, exercise, and steps, which were recorded first without and then with alerts prompting the wearer to break up long stretches of sedentary time. Both quantitative and qualitative findings are discussed, including the finding that an increase in the number of steps taken was correlated to the use of alerts reminding wearer to break up long stretches of sedentary time.