Make yourself comfortable: Nudging urban heat and noise mitigation with smartwatch-based Just-in-time Adaptive Interventions (JITAI)

TL;DR

This study demonstrates how smartwatch-based JITAI interventions can effectively improve urban heat and noise comfort by providing personalized, timely information, leading to behavioral changes in a real-world Singapore deployment.

Contribution

It introduces a novel framework using open-source smartwatch technology for personalized, context-aware interventions to enhance urban comfort, validated through an extensive eight-month field study.

Findings

Participants increased location changes for noise mitigation by 4-11%.

Participants adjusted their environment or behavior for thermal comfort by 3-13%.

Personality traits and environmental preferences influence intervention effectiveness.

Abstract

Humans can play a more active role in improving their comfort in the built environment if given the right information at the right place and time. This paper outlines the use of Just-in-Time Adaptive Interventions (JITAI) implemented in the context of the built environment to provide information that helps humans minimize the impact of heat and noise on their daily lives. This framework is based on the open-source Cozie iOS smartwatch platform. It includes data collection through micro-surveys and intervention messages triggered by environmental, contextual, and personal history conditions. An eight-month deployment of the method was completed in Singapore with 103 participants who submitted more than 12,000 micro-surveys and had more than 3,600 JITAI intervention messages delivered to them. A weekly survey conducted during two deployment phases revealed an overall increase in perceived usefulness ranging from 8-19% over the first three weeks of data collection. For noise-related interventions, participants showed an overall increase in location changes ranging from 4-11% and a 2-17% increase in earphone use to mitigate noise distractions. For thermal comfort-related interventions, participants demonstrated a 3-13\% increase in adjustments to their location or thermostat to feel more comfortable. The analysis found evidence that personality traits (such as conscientiousness), gender, and environmental preferences could be factors in determining the perceived helpfulness of JITAIs and influencing behavior change. These findings underscore the importance of tailoring intervention strategies to individual traits and environmental conditions, setting the stage for future research to refine the delivery, timing, and content of intervention messages.