Utilizing Multi-Modal Personal Health Tracking and Health Affordances of the Built Environment

In this position paper we describe our efforts toward the use of large-scale personal health tracking in developing a better understanding of the built environment and its impact on the health behavior of those dwelling in the space. As part of a larger mobile sensing study, we collected a wide array of health-related data from university students using phone sensors and Ecological Momentary Assessment. Utilizing this dataset, we are developing a process in which we map elements in the built environment to corresponding health behaviors that they afford. This mapping can lead to the creation of a building or site-level generalized health score, providing health applications with a wealth of additional context to inform future personal informatics systems. This is the first step in our larger pursuit of the design of situated informatics systems that utilize personally generated, multi-modal data along with situated information about the built environment. Together, these data can be leveraged to identify health affordances of the environment, encourage healthy behavior, and promote wellbeing.