London - Smartphone users will be able to lead a happier life thanks to a new app designed to beat stress.
The Android Remote Sensing app (AIRS), can detect stressful situations. It monitors your location, the weather, noise levels, calendar events, emails, texts and calls. The app can even work out the size of nearby crowds.
It assesses your emotional state by analysing the language and punctuation used in your text messages and emails. Your physiological reactions can also be measured by hooking the phone up to heart rate sensors.
You can then choose to block your emails, text messages and calls when you hit peak stress levels.
Because of the intimate nature of the data used by the app, all your personal information can be destroyed if the phone is stolen.
Dr Dirk Trossen, the project’s technical manager, said: “This kind of assisted living though mobile technologies is in its infancy, but it is essential that solutions adapt to people, not the other way around.
“Systems should enhance lives and help involve individuals in the information that is having an impact on them.
“By steering people to become self-aware of stress and activity management, systems such as AIRS may be able to help people before they develop health problems in later life, when costly treatments are required with limited success. The time before prescribed medicine is critical for prevention, and cutting costs for health services.
“This requires close monitoring and awareness of lifestyle on the part of individuals – so if the ubiquitous phone in your pocket can also assist with better living in general, it’s a win/win situation.”
He added: “The platform gives people the opportunity to step outside their lives and analyse in-depth contextual data from their day to day existence. It is an important chance for serious reflection on aspects of daily life that are impacting lives without them even realising.”
The app, which was developed at Cambridge University, is due to be released later this year. - Daily Mail