Mobile phone based sensing software explained

Mobile phone–based sensing software is a class of software for mobile phones that uses the phone's sensors to acquire data about the user. Some applications of this software include mental health and overall wellness monitoring. This class of software is important because it has the potential of providing a practical and low-cost approach to deliver psychological interventions for the prevention of mental health disorders, as well as bringing such interventions to populations that have no access to traditional health care. A number of terms are used for this approach, including "personal sensing", "digital phenotyping", and "context sensing". The term "personal sensing" is used in this article, as it conveys in simple language the aim of sensing personal behaviors, states, and conditions.

General information

This article presents a comparison of mobile phone software that can acquire users' sensor data (in a passive manner without users' explicit intervention) and administer questionnaires (or micro-surveys triggered by sensor events). The software described below helps quantify behaviors known to be related to mental health and wellness. The list below includes both commercial and free software. To be included in this list, a software product must be able to acquire data from at least one phone sensor, and provide a minimum level of security for storage and transmission of acquired data. This list excludes software that focuses solely on collecting participant data from surveys and questionnaires.

Software table

The following table contains general information about each mobile-based sensing software, such as who the developers are, when it was last updated, whether it is open or closed source, and the programming language and database they are based on.

!Name!Creator!Latest release!Latest release date!Software license!Open source!Programming language!Data backend
AWAREWeb dashboard and Android client: Denzil Ferreira (Community Instrumentation & Awareness, University of Oulu); Mac OSX and iOS clients: Yuuki Nishiyama (Tokuda Laboratory, SFC, Keio University)4.0.836 (Android); 1.14.12 (iOS)2023 (Android and iOS)Web dashboard: PHP, HTML, JavaScript; Android client: Java & Kotlin; Mac OSX and iOS clients: Objective-C & SwiftMySQL
Beiwe Research PlatformHSPH Onnela Lab2.0.4 (iOS)[1] 3.1.4 (Android)[2] Aug 31, 2021 iOSJuly 22, 2021 AndroidWeb dashboard: HTML, JavaScript; back-end and data analysis pipeline: Python, R, JavaScript; Android client: Java; iOS client: Swift, Objective-CAmazon Web Services
CenceMeSmartphone Sensing Group, Dartmouth College1.2.0 (iOS)July 27, 2009 (iOS)Python, Perl, PHP, BashMySQL
Context Sensing SDKIntelv1.0-beta2 (Windows Mobile); v1.8 (Android)March 18, 2016 (Android)Intel Discontinued this productAndroid: Java; Windows Mobile: C#
EARSKsana HealthAndroid 2.038; iOS 2.1.5August 2023Android: Java; iOS: SwiftAmazon Web Services
EmpathDepartment of Computer Science, University of Virginia2011MySQL
ExpimetricsLouis Tay, Purdue University
Emotion SenseDepartment of Psychology, University of CambridgeApril 25, 2017JavaSQLite
Funf Open Sensing FrameworkOriginally at MIT Media Lab, now maintained by Behavio (Google)v0.5.0RC1September 4, 2015JavaSQLite
m-Path Sensem-Path (KU Leuven)2.8.0 (iOS and Android)July 4 2023proprietaryNoApp: Flutter (Dart), Dashboard: PHP, JavaScriptMySQL
mindLAMP Platform[3] [4] Division of Digital Psychiatry @ Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Centerv2.0August 27, 2020BSD-3YesTypeScript, Python, R, Swift, KotlinFlexible (noSQL)
mEMAIllumivu Inc
MetricwireMetricwire Inc
Mobile Sensing PlatformCogito Corporation
movisensXSMovisens GmbH1.1.1January 5, 2017Java, Kotlin
Murmuras[5] University of Bonn spin-off Murmuras (based on the Menthal project)2.2.1August 24, 2020Android: Java, Kotlin; Web: Python, R, JavaScriptPostgreSQL
Passive Data KitAudacious SoftwareSummer 2017iOS: Objective-C, Android: Java, Web: JavaScript/Python/HTMLSQLite
PsychlogInstituto Auxologico Italiano and National Research Council of ItalyApril 11, 2013License-free softwareC#MySQL
Psyt ResearchPsychological Technologies (PSYT Ltd)2.1June 2017Native iOS (Objective-C), native Android (Java), JavaScriptHosted (backed by PostgreSQL)
Purple RobotCBITS, Northwestern University2.0.8November 3, 2015JavaPostgreSQL
Radar-CNSKing's College and Janssen Pharmaceutica NV2.0.3-beta (dashboard); 0.1-alpha.2 (Android)June 23, 2017 (dashboard); April 13, 2017 (Android)Android: Java, Web: TypescriptMongoDB
RealLife expLifeData LLC
ResearchKitApple1.5June 7, 2017Objective-C, Swift
Research StackCornell Tech's Small Data Lab and open mHealth1.1.1November 18, 2016Java
SensingKitQueen Mary University of London0.5.1 (iOS), 0.2.0 (Android)September 20, 2018 (iOS) July 29, 2015 (Android)Objective-C, Swift, Java
SocialiseBlack Dog Institutev0.2June 16, 2017iOS: Objective-C, Android: Java
unforgettable.meUnforgettable Research Services0.9.6 (Android)December 5, 2017Java, Python, JavaScriptAmazon Web Services

Target audience

The following table shows the target audience for each piece of software included in this article. Software packages that target developers assume a high level of skill in creating code and/or modifying third-party source code. Software packages that target researchers have at least one component that can be used in scientific studies with human subjects. Software packages that target individuals allow at least one component to be downloaded and installed by an end-user with no programming skills. Please note that some packages target more than one type of user.

Target audience!Name!Developers!Researchers!Individuals
AWARE
Beiwe Research Platform
Cenceme
Context sensing SDK
EARS
Empath
Expimetrics
Emotion Sense
Funf
m-Path Sense
mindLAMP Platform
mEMA
Metricwire
Mobile Sensing Platform
MovisensXS
Murmuras
Passive Data Kit
Psychlog
Psyt
Purple Robot
Radar-CNS
RealLife Exp
ResearchKit
Research Stack
SensingKit
Socialise
unforgettable.me

Mobile OS support

The following table shows the type of mobile phone on which each software package can be deployed.

Supported OS!Name!Android!iOS!Windows mobile!Nokia
AWARE
Beiwe Research Platform
Cenceme
Context sensing
EARS
Empath
Expimetrics
Emotion sense
Funf
m-Path Sense
mindLAMP Platform
mEMA
Metricwire
Mobile Sensing Platform
MovisensXS
Murmuras
Passive Data Kit
Psychlog
Psyt
Purple Robot
Radar-CNS
RealLife Exp
ResearchKit
Research Stack
SensingKit
Socialise
unforgettable.me

Installation

In addition to deploying mobile-based sensing software to smart phones, a control dashboard has to be either installed on a local computer or provided through the web. Some of the packages provide a web server so that one is able to have a remote dashboard. The table below shows the server platform and/or web server required for each piece of software.

Installation requirements!Name!Server platform (operating system or web)!Web server required
AWAREWeb
Beiwe Research PlatformWeb
CencemeWeb
Context sensingWeb / Windows / Mac
EARSWeb
EmpathWeb
Expimetrics
Emotion senseWeb
FunfWeb
m-Path SenseWeb
mindLAMP PlatformWeb
mEMAWeb
MetricwireWeb
Mobile Sensing Platform
MovisensXSWeb
MurmurasWeb
Psychlog
PsytWeb
Purple RobotWeb
Radar-CNSFrontend dashboard app
RealLife ExpWeb
ResearchKitWeb server
Research StackWeb server
SensingKitWeb server
SocialiseWeb server
unforgettable.meWeb

Sensor (and other) data that can be captured (part 1)

The following table shows the types of mobile sensors from which each software package is capable of collecting sensor data. Note that the type of data collected depends on availability of the appropriate sensor hardware on a specific smartphone. Some software packages collect raw sensor data (e.g. Beiwe) whereas others collect summaries of such data (e.g. ResearchKit).

Supported sensors and data!Name!Accelerometer!Barometer!Battery!Bluetooth!ECG!Gravity!Gyroscope!Light!Magnetometer!Wifi
AWARE (Android only)
Beiwe Research Platform (Android only) (iOS only) (iOS only)
Cenceme
Context sensing
EARS (Android only)
Empathcolspan=10
Expimetrics
Emotion sense
Funf
m-Path Sense
mindLAMP Platform
mEMA
Metricwirecolspan=10
Mobile Sensing Platform
MovisensXS
Murmuras
Passive Data Kit
Psychlog
Psyt
Purple Robot
Radar-CNS
RealLife Exp
ResearchKit
Research Stackcolspan=10
SensingKit
Socialise

Sensor and data that can be captured (part 2)

The following table shows the types of mobile sensors from which each software package is capable of collecting passive data. Note that the type of data collected depends on availability of the appropriate sensor on the smartphone.

Supported sensors and data!Name!Linear accelerometer!Location!Audio!Pressure sensor!Proximity!Rotation!Surveys!Temperature!Network reachability
AWARE (Android only) (Android only)
Beiwe Research Platform (iOS only)
Cenceme
Context sensing
EARS
Empathcolspan=9
Expimetrics
Emotion sense
Funf
m-Path Sense
mindLAMP Platform
mEMA
Metricwire
Mobile Sensing Platform
MovisensXS
Murmuras
Passive Data Kit
Psychlog
Psyt
Purple Robot
Radar-CNS
RealLife Exp
ResearchKit
Research Stackcolspan=9
SensingKit
Socialise

Support for behavioral studies

The following table contains information regarding availability of functions, within each software package, that support behavioral experiments for scientific purposes.

Behavioral studies features!Name!How does data get from phone to database?!Can surveys be triggered by phone sensors?!Can surveys be triggered remotely by investigator?!Can sensor data config. be remotely changed?!Can platform monitor data gaps and alert investigator?!Does platform support running scripts on phone?
AWARESensor data is uploaded to an AWARE Server instance (hosted or self-hosted) when online (WiFi only or any available connection)
Beiwe Research PlatformWifi or cellular[6]
Cenceme
Context sensing
EARSSensor data is uploaded to AWS when connected to Wifi or Mobile Data.
EmpathRemote server connection
Expimetrics
Emotion senseWifi
Funf(1) manual export or Android file transfer service, (2) manual transfer from device's memory card, (3) setting up server and configure funf to upload data to server.
m-Path SenseSensor data is regularly uploaded to m-Path servers when Wi-Fi is available
mindLAMP PlatformWiFi and Cellular Data
mEMA
Metricwire
Mobile Sensing Platform
MovisensXSCell or Wifi. Online and Offline
MurmurasWiFi or cellular.
Passive Data Kit
Psychlog
PsytHosted data store; automatic over-the-air background pload
Purple RobotSensor data and user provided information is securely transmitted to custom data warehouses
Radar-CNS
RealLife Exp
ResearchKitWi-fi or cellular
Research StackWi-fi or cellular
SensingKit
SocialiseWi-fi or cellular

Battery management

The following table contains information relative to battery management for each software package. As passive data collection from smartphone sensors is a battery-intensive process, methods to maximize battery performance are important for this type of software.

Supported features!Name!Relative drain on battery!Methods of managing battery life
AWAREOverall battery impact on average: 19.7mA when sensing only; 24.7mA when storing locally; and 138mA when connected to serverBuilt-in location algorithm that minimizes battery drain. Also uses event based sampling, opportunistic analysis and scheduled synching to reduce battery consumption
Beiwe Research PlatformInternal testing of Beiwe did not result in significant battery drain Battery drain depends entirely on data collection settings
Cenceme
Context sensing
EARSRates of battery drainage are affected by which sensors are activated. The EARS Android app drains around 0.38% of the battery of a Samsung Galaxy 7 every hour of collection on all sensors. On newer devices or devices with fewer sensors, a smaller percentage is drained every hour.Battery drain depends entirely on data collection settings
Empath
Expimetrics
Emotion senseTo extend battery life, Emotionsense offloads computations to a remote server
Funfnonspecified type of "Battery optimization"
m-Path SenseBattery impact depends on selected data to collect. Location data has high impact, gyroscope is low.Battery drain can be optimized by being specific in data selection.
mindLAMP PlatformMinor battery drain, approximately 0.5% per hour depending on device and collection settings.Battery drain depends entirely on data collection settings
mEMA
Metricwire
Mobile Sensing Platform
MovisensXSContinues location tracking results in 4 days of battery lifeSpecial algorithms maintain a low battery usage
MurmurasTesting of Murmuras did not result in significant battery drain.Battery drain depends entirely on data collection settings.
Passive Data Kit
Psychlog5–6 hours of autonomyNone
PsytVaries with sensor implementationNo drain when backgrounded on iOS
Purple RobotThe battery drain (in seconds per %) of old uploader plugin was 211 seconds; after introducing a new uploader, the battery drain was 584 secondsIn 2014 purplerobot introduced optimizations that increased battery life 176%
Radar-CNS
RealLife Exp
ResearchKit
Research Stack
SensingKitBattery performance was measured on an iPhone 5S running iOS 9.2 and the battery had the following duration performance: idle (51hrs), accelerometer (31hrs), gyroscope (28hrs), magnetometer (34hrs), device motion (21hrs), location (18hrs)
SocialiseBattery performance was assessed on participants' own devices. Average battery life was 21.3 hours when app was not scanning and 18.8 hours when GPS, Bluetooth and battery data was collected every 5 minutes

Software maintenance and support

The following table contains information relative to maintenance and support for each software package. The information provided in this table gives an idea of the likelihood of a package to be supported in the future.

Software maintenance and support features!Name!Online documentation available!User's forum / technical support!How actively is software maintained?!User base!Support for bugs and updates!Location of source code (GitHub, SourceForge, Bitbucket, Launchpad)?!Funding source
AWARESlack, 503 users as of Oct 29, 2019Android client: actively maintained (Denzil Ferreira); iOS client: actively maintained (Yuuki Nishiyama)Used in 2722 studies across institutions worldwide.Slack and GitHub Issue tracking actively used.GitHubAcademy of Finland
Tekes; EU (Marie Curie Actions)
Beiwe Research PlatformSlack6 iOS releases, 14 Android releasesBeiwe is currently used in 25 studies, primarily at various Harvard Medical School teaching hospitalsGitHubNIH Director's New Innovator Award
CencemeIntel, Nokia, NSF, DHS
Context sensing SDKIntel Context sensing SDK developer's forum at Intel.comFrom May 18, 2016, to July 3, 2017, there were two issues posted the developers forum, one of then had 2 replies from intel and the other one had one reply from intel staffIntel's Context Sensing SDK's download pageIntel
EARSGitHub
Emotion senseDevelopers Forum at Google GroupsThe sensor manager for Android had 0 commits from the week of July 10, 2016 to July 3, 2017. The Android sensor data manager had 0 commits from the week of July 10, 2016 to July 3, 2017. The iOS survey manager had 0 commits from the week of July 10, 2016 to July 3, 2017. The iOS sensor manager has 0 commits from the week of July 10, 2016 to July 3, 2017.33 topics at their Google Group's developers forum. From July 3, 2016, to July 3, 2017, there were 5 topics opened, for a total of 11 posts. The forum seems to have gone silent since March 2017.The developers forum seems to have gone silent since March 2017 and no issues have been raised in the GitHub page in the last year (July 3, 2016 to July 3, 2017).GitHubEPSRC (funding expired in 2015)
EmpathNSF
ExpimetricsElevate Ventures
FunfDeveloper's forum at Google GroupsFunf open sensing framework Android library and 0 commits from week of July 10, 2016 to July 3, 2017. The processing data scripts repository had 0 commits from week of July 10, 2016 to July 3, 2017.The Funf developers google group has 338 members and a total of 229 topics, the large majority of which were started before the last year (July 3, 2016 to July 3, 2017).A total of 60 issues were reported on the Funf open sensing framework at GitHub, 52 of which were resolved. No issues have been reported in the last year (July 3, 2016 to July 3, 2017).GitHubThe Knight Foundation, Google
m-Path SenseReddit, /r/mpath actively maintained by developersIn constant development, monthly updates38,000 App users worldwideReddit and e-mail supportNot publicly availableKU Leuven
mindLAMP PlatformFrequent updates, highly maintained.Used by hundreds of patients in studies around the world, including Harvard teaching hospitals.GitHubPublic
mEMA
Metricwire
Mobile Sensing PlatformDARPA
MovisensXSTechnical SupportHighly maintained. Every Android update is prepared. ~ Quarterly Updates.[7] ~1700 Researchers. ~6000 StudiesIntercom 24/7 Chat support and Email.Private
MurmurasTechnical SupportFrequent updates, highly maintained.Email and Phone support depending on contract.PrivateCommercial
Passive Data KitIn the Passive data kit for Android there have been 64 commits from the week of July 10, 2016 to July 3, 2017. In the passive data kit for iOS there have been 19 commits from the week of July 10, 2016 to July 3, 2017. In the passive data kit online server there have been 75 commits from the week of July 10, 2016 to July 3, 2017GitHubPrivate
PsychlogSourceForgeEU funding expired 2013
Psyt>1500 commits per yearEight research projects, over 100,000 research participantsFully supported under contract (for iOS and whitelisted Android devices)PrivateCommercial
Purple RobotThere has been 0 commits from the week of July 10, 2016 to July 3, 2017.Purple robot has been forked 20 times and it has 7 contributors and 35 branchesThere are 44 issues open and 225 resolved. None of the reported issues has been within the last year (July 3, 2016 to July 3, 2017)GitHub
Radar-CNSThe questionnaire mobile application code had 111 commits from the week of July 10, 2016 to July 3, 2017 (4 contributors). The dashboard source code had 290 commits from the week of July 10, 2016 to July 3, 2017 (4 contributors). The functionality for Android passive plugins had 372 commits from the week of July 10, 2016 to July 3, 2017 (6 contributors). The phone sensor plugin for passive remote monitoring app had 301 commits from the week of July 10, 2016 to July 3, 2017 (6 contributors). The android app source code had 139 commits from the week of July 10, 2016 to July 3, 2017 (5 contributors).The repositories contained within Radar-CNS GitHub's account have been forked 20 times, which might be an indicator of the user/developer baseQuestionnaire source code has a total of 13 open issues and 13 closed issues. The dashboard source code has a total of 25 open issues and 11 issues closed. The functionality for Android passive plugins has a total of 6 issues open and 3 closed. The phone sensor plugin has 0 total issues. The android app code has 13 issues open and 14 closed.GitHubHorizon 2020 and EFPIA
RealLife ExpPrivate
ResearchKit200 commits from the week of July 10, 2016 to July 2, 2017 (96 contributors).6 topics related to Researchkit within the developers forum, all of them opened within the last year (July 2016 to July 2017).72 issues open and 362 closed (about a third of those issues occurred within the last year).GitHubApple
Research Stack14 commits from the week of July 10, 2016 to July 2, 2017 (14 contributors)32 topics in the developers forum, 11 of those topics updated within the last year (July 3, 2016 to July 2, 2017).52 issues open and 78 closed. About a third of those issues occurred within the last year (July 2016 to July 2017).GitHubRobert Wood Johnson Foundation
SensingKitSensingkit for iOS source code had 282 commits from the week of July 10, 2016 to July 2, 2017 (1 contributor).Sensingkit for Android had no commits from the week of July 10, 2016 to July 2, 2017 (1 contributor). Sensingkit server platform had no commits from the week of July 10, 2016 to July 2, 2017 (1 contributor)15 forks total in Sensingkit for Android, iOS and serverThere was a total of 3 issues open and 6 closed in iOS, Android and server repositories combines, all of the issues occurred within the last year (July 3, 2016 to July 2, 2017).GitHubUK Defence Science and Technology Laboratory
SocialisePrivateNational Health and Medical Research Council

Security and privacy

The following table contains information relative to encryption and secure transfer of data collected from smartphone sensors. This information is very important for a data collection app due to privacy concerns over the handling of phone data.

Security and privacy!Name!Database encryption?!Secure data transfer?
AWARE
Beiwe Research Platform
Cenceme
Context sensing
EARS
Empath
Expimetrics
Emotion senseEncryption is used but was unable to obtain more detailsEncryption is used but was unable to obtain more details
Funf
m-Path Sense
mindLAMP Platform
mEMA
Metricwire
Mobile Sensing Platform
MovisensXS
Murmuras
Passive Data Kit
Psychlog
Psyt
Purple Robot
Radar-CNS
RealLife Exp
ResearchKit
Research Stack
SensingKit
Socialise

Cost

The following table contains information relative to whether a software package is free or non-free.

Cost of each platform and dependencies!Name!Cost
AWARE
Beiwe Research Platform
Cenceme
Context sensing SDK
EARS
Empath
Expimetrics
Emotion sense
Funf
m-Path Sense
mindLAMP Platform
mEMA
Metricwire
Mobile Sensing Platform
MovisensXS
Murmuras
Passive Data Kit
Psychlog
Psyt
Purple Robot
Radar-CNS
RealLife Exp
ResearchKit
Research Stack
SensingKit
Socialise

See also

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Beiwe2. 2021-12-03. App Store. en-US.
  2. Web site: Beiwe2 - Apps on Google Play. 2021-12-03. play.google.com. en.
  3. Web site: mindLAMP Platform.
  4. Torous. John. Wisniewski. Hannah. Bird. Bruce. Carpenter. Elizabeth. David. Gary. Elejalde. Eduardo. Fulford. Dan. Guimond. Synthia. Hays. Ryan. Henson. Philip. Hoffman. Liza. 2019-06-01. Creating a Digital Health Smartphone App and Digital Phenotyping Platform for Mental Health and Diverse Healthcare Needs: an Interdisciplinary and Collaborative Approach. Journal of Technology in Behavioral Science. en. 4. 2. 73–85. 10.1007/s41347-019-00095-w. 150589575. 2366-5963. free.
  5. Web site: Murmuras website.
  6. Web site: Beiwe Wiki. wiki.beiwe.org. en. 2018-01-19.
  7. Web site: MovisensXS Archives - movisens GmbH. 3 October 2022.