research-article

Designing an AI Health Coach and Studying Its Utility in Promoting Regular Aerobic Exercise

Authors:

Anusha Venkatakrishnan,

Andrea L. HartzlerAuthors Info & Claims

ACM Transactions on Interactive Intelligent Systems (TiiS), Volume 10, Issue 2

Article No.: 14, Pages 1 - 30

https://doi.org/10.1145/3366501

Published: 30 May 2020 Publication History

Abstract

Our research aims to develop interactive, social agents that can coach people to learn new tasks, skills, and habits. In this article, we focus on coaching sedentary, overweight individuals (i.e., “trainees”) to exercise regularly. We employ adaptive goal setting in which the intelligent health coach generates, tracks, and revises personalized exercise goals for a trainee. The goals become incrementally more difficult as the trainee progresses through the training program. Our approach is model-based—the coach maintains a parameterized model of the trainee’s aerobic capability that drives its expectation of the trainee’s performance. The model is continually revised based on trainee-coach interactions. The coach is embodied in a smartphone application, NutriWalking, which serves as a medium for coach-trainee interaction. We adopt a task-centric evaluation approach for studying the utility of the proposed algorithm in promoting regular aerobic exercise. We show that our approach can adapt the trainee program not only to several trainees with different capabilities but also to how a trainee’s capability improves as they begin to exercise more. Experts rate the goals selected by the coach better than other plausible goals, demonstrating that our approach is consistent with clinical recommendations. Further, in a 6-week observational study with sedentary participants, we show that the proposed approach helps increase exercise volume performed each week.

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Index Terms

Designing an AI Health Coach and Studying Its Utility in Promoting Regular Aerobic Exercise
1. Computing methodologies
  1. Artificial intelligence
2. Human-centered computing
  1. Human computer interaction (HCI)
    1. HCI design and evaluation methods
      1. User models
      2. User studies
  2. Interaction design
    1. Interaction design process and methods
      1. User centered design

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cover image ACM Transactions on Interactive Intelligent Systems

ACM Transactions on Interactive Intelligent Systems Volume 10, Issue 2

June 2020

155 pages

ISSN:2160-6455

EISSN:2160-6463

DOI:10.1145/3403610

Editor:
Michelle X. Zhou
Juji, Inc., USA

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Copyright © 2020 ACM.

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Publication History

Published: 30 May 2020

Accepted: 01 October 2019

Received: 01 November 2018

Published in TIIS Volume 10, Issue 2

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https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3613904.3642619
Kathrine Kollerup NJohansen STolsgaard MLønborg Friis MSkov Mvan Berkel N(2024)Clinical needs and preferences for AI-based explanations in clinical simulation trainingBehaviour & Information Technology10.1080/0144929X.2024.2334852(1-21)Online publication date: 3-Apr-2024
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Rei DClavel CMartin JRavenet B(2024)Adapting goals and motivational messages on smartphones for motivation to walkSmart Health10.1016/j.smhl.2024.10048232(100482)Online publication date: Jun-2024
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.smhl.2024.100482
Vázquez ALópez Zorrilla AOlaso JTorres M(2023)Dialogue Management and Language Generation for a Robust Conversational Virtual Coach: Validation and User StudySensors10.3390/s2303142323:3(1423)Online publication date: 27-Jan-2023
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Ekhtiar TKarahanoğlu AGouveia RLudden G(2023)Goals for Goal Setting: A Scoping Review on Personal InformaticsProceedings of the 2023 ACM Designing Interactive Systems Conference10.1145/3563657.3596087(2625-2641)Online publication date: 10-Jul-2023
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Jingar M(2023)Early phase design process of an intelligent coaching system for behaviour change related to stress managementBehaviour & Information Technology10.1080/0144929X.2023.2196583(1-15)Online publication date: 30-Mar-2023
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