IoT Nudge: IoT Data-driven Nudging for Health Behavior Change
Yugo Nakamura

Yuki Matsuda

y-nakamura@ait.kyushu-u.ac.jp
Kyushu University
Fukuoka, Japanyukimat@is.naist.jp
Nara Institute of Science and Technology
Ikoma, Japan

Internet of things, Nudge, Behavior change, Interaction design,
Persuasive technology
ACM Reference Format:
Yugo Nakamura and Yuki Matsuda. 2021. IoT Nudge: IoT Data-driven Nudging for Health Behavior Change. In Adjunct Proceedings of the 2021 ACM
International Joint Conference on Pervasive and Ubiquitous Computing andProceedings of the 2021 ACM International Symposium on Wearable Computers (UbiComp-ISWC ’21 Adjunct), September 21–26, 2021, Virtual, USA. ACM,New York, NY, USA, 2 pages. https://doi.org/10.1145/3460418.3479280

1INTRODUCTION

In the information society of today, where accessibility to a variety of temptations such as junk food and information overloading
have proliferated, living a healthier lifestyle while maintaining
self-control under all circumstances has become difficult for manypeople. As a result, there is an urgent need to find ways to promotehealthy daily habits while still considering systematic errors inhuman thought processes and cognitive biases [2]. In our projects,
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UbiComp-ISWC ’21 Adjunct, September 21–26, 2021, Virtual, USA© 2021 Copyright held by the owner/author(s).
ACM ISBN 978-1-4503-8461-2/21/09.
https://doi.org/10.1145/3460418.3479280

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This paper presents an Internet of Things (IoT)-based concept called“IoT Nudge”, which aims to induce continuous healthful behavior
changes through interactions between human users and IoT devices,
including smart sensors and actuators. More specifically, IoT Nudge
systems aim to establish self-reflection loops in which our daily
behaviors are reflected in the IoT devices around us. The changes in
the presentations of those IoT devices promote self-awareness andprovide us with opportunities to improve our lifestyle habits. To reconfigure poor behavior into good behavior, the IoT Nudge provides
three functions: (1) automatic tracking of a user’s lifestyle habits
using IoT sensors, (2) playfully reframing the user’s daily activities
into other more healthful representations based on analogies, and(3) delivering real-time ambient feedback through reframed representations from IoT actuators that encourage self-reflection. Herein,
we describe our conceptual model of IoT Nudge and introduce
three prototype systems aimed at promoting health improvements:
fit2plant, eat2pic, and brush2music.

Figure 1: Overview of IoT Nudge model
we aim to bridge this gap by exploring the interaction potentials of
the Internet of Things (IoT) devices. The “IoT Nudge” concept (1)integrates “nudge” mechanisms [1, 6] to guide people to healthfulchoices and behaviors without coercion, and (2) utilizes IoT systems [3, 4] to connect the physical and digital worlds via smart,context-aware, everyday objects and devices. In this short paper,
we present our IoT nudge approach.

2IOT NUDGE MODEL

Fig. 1 shows an overview of “IoT Nudge”, which aims to establish aself-reflection loop in which our daily behavior is echoed in the IoT
devices around us and within which the changes in the representation of IoT devices playfully promote self-awareness and urge users
to improve their lifestyle habits. IoT Nudge has three core processes:(1) automatic tracking of user lifestyle habits using IoT sensors, (2)playful reframing of user daily activities into other representations
based on analogies, and (3) providing real-time ambient feedback
through reframed representations on IoT actuators to encourage
self-reflection. Through daily interactions with IoT systems aroundus, these IoT-based “nudges” aim to increase healthy behaviors andreduce unhealthy actions. In the next section, we present specificexamples of IoT nudge systems that work in three scenarios: promoting regular exercise, eating a balanced diet, and stimulating
good oral hygiene.

3 IOT NUDGE SYSTEM EXAMPLES
3.1 fit2plant: Promoting regular exercise
Fig. 2 shows the interactive design of “fit” to “plant” (fit2plant)
system, which is designed to reconfigure user exercise habits by observing their “exercise” behaviors in the physical world and reflecting them as digital “plant growth”. Here, we focused on developing
an analogy between their exercise behavior and a growing plant.
The fit2plant system is composed of a sensing component that isbased on an inertial measurement unit (IMU) sensor mounted ona fashion belt setup to monitor exercising behavior (A and B) andUbiComp-ISWC ’21 Adjunct, September 21–26, 2021, Virtual, USA
・Good posture・Sufficient exerciseA


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

Change・Bad posture・Lack of exercise

Y.Nakamura, et al.

   Exercising

Physical healthPlant HealthPosture

Color of plant・Too short/longbrushing time

Condition of soil(amount of sweat)(amount of water)

CA

BrushingPlayingToothbrush

Change(fed nutrients)

Amount of exercise

B・Appropriate
brushing time

Growing

Baton (Takt)

Brushing speed

B

Brushing intensity

tSoftlyharshly=Tempo of music

mf ppsfz

Strength of soundC
Drums
TrumpetViolinPiano

Figure 2: Interaction design of fit2plant
・Eat slow
・Balanced diet

Change・Eat fast・Unbalanced dietA   BEatingPainting

Chopsticks

BrushesDishesPaletteFoodstuffs

ColorsC

Figure 3: Interaction design of eat2pic
intervention components using context-aware digital plants (C).
User posture and daily exercise amounts are reflected in the postureand growth amounts of the digital plants. These interactions aredesigned to nudge the user into increased awareness of his or her
daily posture and promote exercise awareness.

3.2

eat2pic: Promoting balanced dietFig. 3 shows the interactive design of “eat” to “pic” (eat2pic) [5] system, which aims to reconfigure user eating habits by observing theireating behaviors in the physical world and reflecting them in a digital “painting”. Here, we focused on developing an analogy between
eating and painting. The eat2pic system is composed of a sensing
component based on a micro-camera and an IMU sensor-equipped
chopstick setup (A), and an intervention component consisting of
two digital canvases (B and C). Together, these allow users to enjoy
their mealtimes while watching colors appear on a digital canvas
landscape painting.
The colors of the foods consumed by the users are reflected in thelandscape painting placed on two context-aware digital canvases.
However, the way the colors are applied will change depending on
how the user eats. For example, if the user rushes to eat a meal,
multiple colors will mix in one area, and the landscape appearance
will degrade. These short-term painting nudges reflect the user’s
behavior through the course of one meal (B), while the long-term
painting reflects his or her eating habits over a weeklong period
(C).

3.3

brush2music: Promoting good oral hygiene

Fig. 4 shows the interactive design of “brush” to “music” (brush2music)
system, which is designed to reconfigure user teeth brushing habits

Figure 4: Interaction design of brush2music
by observing their “brushing” behaviors in the physical world andreflecting them in digital “musical instruments”. As in the eat2pic
and fit2plant systems mentioned above, the goal is to create an analogy between brushing their teeth and playing musical instruments.
The brush2music system is composed of an IMU sensor-equipped
toothbrush and calm technology-based intervention components
centered on a smart speaker. The brush2music system provides anexperience that makes user feels as if they are creating loop musicby brushing their teeth properly. The brushing speed is reflectedin the music tempo, and the brushing intensity is reflected in thesound strength.
On the first day, only simple drum rhythms are played. However,after about a week, users can enjoy beautiful loop music harmonies
mixed with the sounds of drum, trumpet, violin, piano, and otherinstruments. These elements are intended to nudge his or her brushing habits (such as speed, intensity, and brushing targets).

4FUTURE WORKIn the future, we will conduct user studies of each IoT nudge system
to investigate the impacts of long-term interactions between users
and those systems on healthful behavior changes. We also aim tosystematize the IoT Nudge concept further and build a frameworkthat bridges the domains of ubiquitous computing and behavioral
economics.

ACKNOWLEDGMENT
This work was supported by Japan Science and Technology Agency(JST) ACT-I (JPMJPR18UK).

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