AEDHunter: Investigating AED Retrieval in the Real World via Gamified Mobile Interaction and Sensing

TL;DR

AEDHunter is a gamified mobile app that improves public AED retrieval skills through repeated, sensor-based practice, leading to faster retrieval times and increased confidence in real-world scenarios.

Contribution

This paper introduces AEDHunter, a novel gamified, sensor-enabled mobile system for in-situ AED retrieval training, demonstrating its effectiveness in real-world practice.

Findings

Participants reduced AED retrieval times after practice

Users reported increased confidence in locating AEDs

Sensor data revealed decreased hesitation during retrieval

Abstract

Early defibrillation significantly improves survival rates in cases of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest. However, limited public awareness of Automated External Defibrillator (AED) locations constrains their effective use. Existing solutions, such as static 2D maps, often fall short in urgent or complex real-world scenarios. To address this challenge, we developed AEDHunter, a gamified, location-based mobile application designed to transform AED retrieval into an engaging and repeatable practice experience. Leveraging smartphone sensors to analyze participants' movement and learning patterns, and using low-cost Bluetooth tags to verify arrivals at AED locations, AEDHunter guides users through multiple sessions of AED discovery. In a real-world evaluation study, participants significantly reduced their AED retrieval times after repeated practice sessions and reported increased confidence in locating AEDs. Additionally, we employ a two-state activity detector to identify ``exploratory pauses'', which are then used as a behavioral learning signal to quantify hesitation and its progressive reduction through practice. Our findings suggest that gamified applications like AEDHunter can improve AED retrieval performance through repeated, in-situ training and enhance self-reported preparedness, offering design insights for technology-supported learning and public safety applications.