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SFH Movement

Have your movement patterns changed?

Are you moving more or less since you started studying from home?

Download the app SFH (Study from home movement) to visualize steps data from sources such as Apple Health, Google fitness and Garmin, to get an idea of how your movement patterns have changed after studying from home.

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screenshot of app introscreenshot of app step details

Understand your movement patterns

Understand your movement patterns

Do you think that you are moving more or less since you began studying from home?


The Study From Home-app allows you to explore whether your movement patterns have changed after Covid-19 and recommendations for schools to switch to remote education. The app visualizes your movement in the form of steps data from your phone, through Apple Health, Google fitness or Garmin.

Contribute to research

Contribute to research

The app was developed for research purposes by the Division of Human Computer Interaction at the Department of Applied Information Technology, University of Gothenburg, Sweden.

By using the app you contribute to research about how the pandemic and remote education affect students' physical activities.

No data will be shared unless you explicitly agree to do so. You can read more about our handling of data in the privacy policy and in the FAQ.

Create new opportunities for learning

Create new opportunities for learning

Are you a teacher, and want to help your students understand how distance education affects their health?

We are happy to collaborate with schools and teachers who want to explore how they can use Study from home in their education. Let your students explore their data, support them in their physical activity during the shutdowns, or use the app as a starting point for discussion in your health education.

Contact alexandra.weilenmann@gu.se to find out more.

Part of WFH Movement

Part of WFH Movement

The Study from home-app is a sister app to the Work from home (WFH) movement-app.

The WFH app was created to understand how the recommendations to work from home have affected our daily movement patterns. During the study, we realized that there was also a need to understand how the restrictions affect students, when schools are recommended to switch to distance education. That's why we created the SFH app.

Here, those of you who work from home can read more about the Work from home-app, and download the app.

FAQ

Using the SFH-app

What does the SFH-app do?

The app visualizes your movement in the form of steps data from your phone, through Apple Health, Google Fitness or Garmin Connect. By picking a date where you started studying from home, you will be able to explore whether your movement patterns have changed.

Why can I only see other people’s data?

When the application is installed, it asks you to choose where you store your step data. If you choose that you have no steps to share, or if you have no data from before you started studying from home, then you see a visualization of the data of everyone else who is using the app so far.

I can only see other people’s data, how can I add my own steps?

If you want to see a visualization of your own steps, then you choose a source by visiting the main screen and choose “add a data source”.

I have a Fitbit and want to see my steps in the app, is that possible?

Currently, the app can only get steps data from your phone collected through Apple Health or Garmin. We might add more devices in the future.

I swim/cycle a lot, does this count as movement in the app?

The app only considers steps as movement because steps are recognised by the built in software on smartphones we carry these days. Since swimming and cycling does not incur steps, it is not considered in this app. Unfortunately, this can result in an inaccurate view of your overall movement.

Why do I have to be at least 15 years old to use the app?

To use the app you need to provide your consent. This means that you have to approve that we collect your data. In Sweden you have to be 15 years or older to give your consent. Read more at the Swedish Authority for Privacy Protection (in Swedish).

About the research

Why have you made this app?

The app is a part of research conducted by researchers at the Division of Human-Computer Interaction at the Department of Applied IT at the University of Gothenburg. We are interested in learning more about whether the pandemic and subsequent recommendations to work from home has affected people's everyday movement patterns. We believe that this data can be useful not just for research purposes but also for the individuals who use the app to get an understanding of their movement.

Who is responsible for this?

The app is a part of research conducted by researchers at the Division of Human-Computer Interaction at the Department of Applied IT at the University of Gothenburg. The developers are: research engineer Sebastian Andreasson, Dr Vasiliki Mylonopoulou, Dr Mattias Rost and Prof. Alexandra Weilenmann. You can read more about us on our webpage: https://hci-gu.github.io/

How can I withdraw from the study and remove my data?

You can withdraw any time from the app by going to the settings and choosing the “Delete data” option. After choosing this option we remove all the data you shared with us and we have no way to retrieve them back.

Data and privacy

Do you collect my personal data?

We do not collect your name, personal number, adress, or similar information. We collect step data from the source that you have selected, and ask questions about your age, gender, and type of education. For those of you who study at Swedish gymnasium level (corresponding to high school), we also ask you what year you are in. Here you can read more about personal data about children (in Swedish).

Where is my data stored?

All data is stored securely on servers within the European Union (EU) and not shared with third parties.

What will you do with the data?

The data is used to display what you see in the app. We will also use this data in our research on the recommendations affect people’s movement patterns as well as people’s perception of their movement.

Can I get a copy of my data?

You can request to delete your data from within the app as long as it is installed on your device. You may also request a copy of your data by emailing sebastian.andreasson@ait.gu.se together with a unique identifier found on the settings screen of the app (24 characters). When you uninstall the app, this identifier is lost and we can no longer identify you in the dataset and it can therefore not be requested nor deleted.

Can I be identified by the data I shared with you?

We make no connection between the data and an individual. When you install the application a random identifier is created that is used when uploading data to connect your information to your data in the database. When you uninstall the app this identifier is lost.

Will my teacher be able to see my personal movement data?

No, your teacher will not have access to data from individual students. They will only have access to the same overview as you, showing a summary of the general movement patterns of the students.



Are you collecting my health data?

We collect only the number of your steps and the demographic information you already shared with us. While step counts of an individual may be a health indicator, it is not considered health data in itself.

Why do I have to manually synchronise my data?

We value your privacy and we want you to have full control of data you share with us. By synchronising your steps manually you know that the application receives data from your phone.

The reasearchers are: Sebastian Andreasson (@sebasti_andreas), Vasiliki Mylonopoulou, Mattias Rost (@rrostt), and Alexandra Weilenmann (@superalex)