Pervasive computing with everyday devices to build & sustain stress resilience and wellbeing

As society progresses towards increasing pervasive computing levels, I design and build technology-enabled solutions to repurpose everyday devices to help people build resilience and grow wellbeing. I leverage biological and behavioral knowledge to design systems that balance user needs and health outcomes while mitigating surveillance and agency risks. In this talk, I present my research on efficacious and engaging sensors and interventions necessary in the population and public health domains. I share a series of research projects exploring and validating novel ideas on passive sensors - less dependent on subjective surveys or wearables - and subtle interventions that minimize workflow disruption. I show the promise of repurposing existing signals from computing peripherals (i.e., mouse and trackpad) or cars (steering wheel) into “sensorless” sensors and repurposing existing media as just-in-time micro-interventions that can work across multiple scenarios and populations. I discuss how these data could be used in collaboration with domain experts to study topics as varied as the interaction between stress and productivity in office workers, burnout prevention among clinical practitioners, or the prevention of depression among rural health workers. Finally, grounded in theories from neuroscience and behavioral economics, I propose the evolution of everyday “mundane” devices, such as chairs, desks, cars, or even urban lights, into adaptive and autonomous wellbeing-optimizing interventions. I close with a discussion of the research needed to study ethics systematically in pervasive technology for stress resilience and wellbeing.