AktiMotBot: A social media chatbot with activity tracker integration for motivating increased physical activity

Abstract

The World Health Organization has reported that more than 80% of the world’s adolescent population is insufficiently physically active [1]. Up to five million deaths per year could be averted if the global population were more active[1]. The low adherence to physical activity shows the need to implement services that promote physical activity. In addition, it is crucial to educate people on the benefits of being physically active and the negative consequences sedentary behavior imposes.

This thesis proposes a social media chatbot with the integration of an activity tracker that aims to motivate people to increase their daily step count. The chatbot, AktiMotBot, encourages people by implementing behavior change techniques in its messages and functionality. We use popular technology, such as social media applications, to ease access. Further, the use of chatbots has grown. A chatbot gives a service that is always available to the user and is cost-effective. In addition, chatbots have familiar interfaces that ease their use. Finally, activity data is integrated into the chatbot as a motivation and personalization tool, enabling monitoring behavior change.

A thorough investigation of social media applications was conducted to ensure users’ privacy and security. A usability study investigated how potential users perceived the system, and the usability of the chatbot was scored as average. The results showed that the chatbot was able to increase the motivation of half of the participants. Finally, the findings from this research are that chatbots could motivate people to increase their physical activity levels and make people more aware of their step count.