Empower Research Lab

Empower Research Lab

WhoIsZuki

Encouraging physical activity through personalized narratives that connect health achievements with story progression.

Description

This research develops personalized, data-driven narratives to shape health behaviors and mindsets, with a focus on motivating physical activity. Stories ambiently visualize a user’s tracked activities and goals as components of a multi-chapter story, where the user's achievements are tied to plot progression. Current extensions include support for specialized health conditions and populations (diabetes, indigenous peoples, older adults) as well as motivating behaviors that can have positive impacts beyond the individual (e.g., environmentally friendly activities like biking and walking). Additional project details are available here: https://hci.stanford.edu/research/zuki/

Publications

Designing Ambient Narrative-Based Interfaces to Reflect and Motivate Physical Activity

Elizabeth L. Murnane, Xin Jiang, Anna Kong, Michelle Park, Weili Shi, Connor Soohoo, Luke Vink, Iris Xia, Xin Yu, John Yang-Sammataro, Grace Young, Jenny Zhi, Paula Moya, James A. Landay

Proceedings of the 38th Annual Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI) · Pages 1–14 · ACM · 2020

physical activity

narrative

ambient displays

smartphones

Narrative-Based Visual Feedback to Encourage Sustained Physical Activity: A Field Trial of the WhoIsZuki Mobile Health Platform

**Elizabeth L Murnane**, Yekaterina S Glazko, Jean Costa, Raymond Yao, Grace Zhao, Paula ML Moya, James A Landay

Proceedings of the ACM on Interactive, Mobile, Wearable and Ubiquitous Technologies

physical activity

narrative

ambient displays

smartphones

Leveraging Mobile Technology for Public Health Promotion: A Multidisciplinary Perspective

Jennifer L Hicks, Melissa A Boswell, Tim Althoff, Alia J Crum, Joy P Ku, James A Landay, Paula ML Moya, **Elizabeth L Murnane**, Michael P Snyder, Abby C King, Scott L Delp

Annual Review of Public Health

physical activity

narrative

ambient displays

smartphones

Date

2017 - Present

Keywords

health

behavior change

physical activity

narrative

ambient displays

smartphones

mHealth

D-Pine
Murnane Research Group at Dartmouth College | Contact: empowerlab@dartmouth.edu | Last updated: March 2025
Thayer School of Engineering