Mobile motivators

Whether you are learning a foreign language, training for the city marathon or want to lose five kilos – the digital motivator eCoach will help you to achieve your personal goals. The system runs on any cell phone or PDA and provides just the right amount of motivation.

Instead of the shrill sound of the alarm clock, your cell phone wakes you in the morning with a happy mp3 song. On the display you read the encouraging message, "What a wonderful morning! It's time to put on your running shoes and go for a jog around the park." This digital motivator is called eCoach and is being developed by researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Communication Systems ESK. It is intended to help users achieve their personal goals. Irrespective of whether you want to learn a new language or lose weight, eCoach provides regular motivation to help you reach the goals you have set yourself, for example by sending you training tips, a congratulatory text message or a critical appraisal of your performance.

Dr. Dong-Hak Kim, project manager at the ESK, explains the principle behind eCoach: "The dynamic of eCoach is based on a psychological behavioral model which states that the feedback we get for a particular piece of behavior is important for determining how we conduct ourselves in the future. A kind of dynamic behavioral cycle therefore develops." What is special about eCoach is that it adapts to the user's behavior. It communicates independently with the user and asks, for instance, whether they are following their training plan. If users diligently keep to their plan they are rewarded with a cinema voucher, for example – similar to the bonus systems operated by health insurance companies.

Users can decide from case to case whether their cell phone or their PDA is to be their motivator. The devices are connected to the eCoach server via the Internet, so that the service can be used anytime and anywhere. eCoach also has a community function, allowing the establishment of virtual communities made up of people sharing the same goal. The system anonymously compares personal success with that of the other members. Group dynamics and shared experiences help to stimulate and enhance the training.

For further information, please contact:
Dr. rer. nat. Dong-Hak Kim
Phone: +49 89 547088-347
Fax: +49 89 547088-220
Fraunhofer-Einrichtung für Systeme der Kommunikationstechnik
ESK, Hansastraße 32
80686 München

www.esk.fraunhofer.de

Most Popular Now

Integrating Care Records is Good. Using …

Opinion Article by Dr Paul Deffley, Chief Medical Officer, Alcidion. A single patient record already exists in the NHS. Or at least, that’s a perception shared by many. A survey of...

Should AI Chatbots Replace Your Therapis…

The new study exposes the dangerous flaws in using artificial intelligence (AI) chatbots for mental health support. For the first time, the researchers evaluated these AI systems against clinical standards...

AI could Help Pathologists Match Cancer …

A new study by researchers at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, and collaborators, suggests that artificial intelligence (AI) could significantly improve how...

AI Detects Early Signs of Osteoporosis f…

Investigators have developed an artificial intelligence-assisted diagnostic system that can estimate bone mineral density in both the lumbar spine and the femur of the upper leg, based on X-ray images...

AI Model Converts Hospital Records into …

UCLA researchers have developed an AI system that turns fragmented electronic health records (EHR) normally in tables into readable narratives, allowing artificial intelligence to make sense of complex patient histories...

AI Sharpens Pathologists' Interpret…

Pathologists' examinations of tissue samples from skin cancer tumours improved when they were assisted by an AI tool. The assessments became more consistent and patients' prognoses were described more accurately...

AI Tool Detects Surgical Site Infections…

A team of Mayo Clinic researchers has developed an artificial intelligence (AI) system that can detect surgical site infections (SSIs) with high accuracy from patient-submitted postoperative wound photos, potentially transforming...

Forging a Novel Therapeutic Path for Pat…

Rett syndrome is a devastating rare genetic childhood disorder primarily affecting girls. Merely 1 out of 10,000 girls are born with it and much fewer boys. It is caused by...

Mayo Clinic's AI Tool Identifies 9 …

Mayo Clinic researchers have developed a new artificial intelligence (AI) tool that helps clinicians identify brain activity patterns linked to nine types of dementia, including Alzheimer's disease, using a single...

AI Detects Fatty Liver Disease with Ches…

Fatty liver disease, caused by the accumulation of fat in the liver, is estimated to affect one in four people worldwide. If left untreated, it can lead to serious complications...

AI Matches Doctors in Mapping Lung Tumor…

In radiation therapy, precision can save lives. Oncologists must carefully map the size and location of a tumor before delivering high-dose radiation to destroy cancer cells while sparing healthy tissue...

Meet Your Digital Twin

Before an important meeting or when a big decision needs to be made, we often mentally run through various scenarios before settling on the best course of action. But when...