People living in both developed and developing countries face serious health challenges related to sedentary lifestyles. It is therefore essential to find new ways to improve health so that people can live longer and age well. With an ever-growing number of smart sensing systems developed and deployed across the globe, experts are primed to help coach people to have healthier behaviors. The increasing accountability associated with app- and device-based behavior tracking not only provides timely and personalized information and support, but also gives us an incentive to set goals and do more. This paper outlines some of the recent efforts made towards automatic and autonomous identification and coaching of troublesome behaviors to procure lasting, beneficial behavioral changes.
Keywords: activity recognition; behavior change; context-awareness; e-coaching; smart objects; smartphones; wearable sensors.