The team at the University of Bristol created software that uses motion sensors on an Android smartwatch to identify the typical hand movements of smoking.
Once detected, the app delivers a vibration alert with a text message designed by smokers and former smokers, offering support about stopping smoking onto the smartwatch screen.
One message reads “Stopping smoking lets you breathe more easily.. Quitting is good”, while others contain a tally of how many cigarettes smoked and the total number of drags taken that day.
After reading the message, participants can swipe it away or press a button to display information about accessing the NHS smoking cessation support pages online.
Chris Stone, of the University of Bristol’s Tobacco and Alcohol Research Group, said: “For those who are trying to give up, an…