This evening NPR aired a program regarding environmental behavior research that involved drug addicts and smart phones in Baltimore, MD. The research project distributed smart phones to drug addicted research subjects that had an app developed to track their behaviors in relationship to their physical location.
The smart phone app had simple statements that were to be responded to by the subjects like:
1. I felt a craving to use but didn't.
2. I felt a craving to use and I did.
The smart phone recorded their position using GPS technology. The data that was retrieved by the researchers would show if people felt urges to use at certain locations in Baltimore and which places they decided to use. Or, they used thirty minutes after leaving a particular spot. A pattern soon emerged showing locations that were trigger points for people to have cravings or use issues. The researchers could then go and analyze the physical characteristics of the trigger nodes and look for clues as to what in the environment may initiate drug use cravings, such as caps from used drug vials.
The hope of the researchers is to develop software that can help people avoid trigger points in their environment while they are trying to get over their addictions. The software may even become reassuring by letting people know that they will get over their craving in 20 mins and to just hang in there a little longer.
I thought this was very fascinating and wondered how it could be used to track people's sustainability habits and what kinds of information could be revealed.
Christopher,
ReplyDeleteThere's lots to respond to in these last two posts on the fracking and on this one...but have you seen last weeks reports on the Supreme Court case on the use of tracking devices on the drug suspect? Be sure you check out the news on this issue!