Dobbins, Chelsea

Fairclough, Stephen

University of Queensland eSpace

Chelsea Dobbins and Stephen Fairclough, “Wearable Sensors, Driving and the Visualization of Cardiovascular Stress During Everyday Life,” in the 
1st Neuroadaptive Technology Conference 2017 (NAT’17), Berlin, Germany, 19th – 21st July, 2017 [Accepted] 
WEARABLE SENSORS, DRIVING AND THE VISUALIZATION OF 
CARDIOVASCULAR STRESS DURING EVERYDAY LIFE 
Chelsea Dobbins 1 and Stephen Fairclough 2 
Department of Computer Science 1 and School of Natural Sciences and Psychology 2 
Liverpool John Moores University, Byrom Street, Liverpool, L3 3AF 
E-mail address: {C.M.Dobbins, S.Fairclough}@ljmu.ac.uk 
 
ABSTRACT: Driving is a common daily activity, where the experience of negative emotions, such 
as stress/anger, can frequently occur. The repeated experience of cardiovascular activation associated 
with negative emotions can be detrimental to long-term health. However, these physiological changes 
can be quantified via wearable technology to enable insight and self-reflection from the perspective 
of the individual. A study was conducted to explore the impact of data visualization on cardiovascular 
reactivity and self-regulation in response to driver stress.  
 
INTRODUCTION 
High-levels of negative emotions can have adverse implications for health, including inflammation, 
which can impact long-term cardiovascular health (e.g. developing coronary heart disease and 
hypertension) [1]–[3]. However, this cumulative damage can be reduced with the use of effective 
coping strategies, the development of which can be supported using wearable technology [4]–[5]. 
This work presents our mobile platform, which captures data during daily commuter driving. This 
includes psychophysiological data collected from wearable devices, including heart rate (HR), heart 
rate variability (HRV) and pulse transit time (PTT). This was enhanced with contextual data collected 
via a smartphone, including location, vehicle speed and photographs of the driving view. These data 
were then used to create an interactive visualization of changes in cardiovascular stress. 
 
MATERIALS AND METHODS 
Eight participants took part in the study to collect data during eight commuter journeys to/from work 
(four during the journey to work and four during the journey back to their residence). The initial two 
days of data collection were referred to as a pre-test phase. Data from all four journeys during this 
phase were translated into an interactive visualization of each cardiovascular measure (HR, HRV, 
and PTT) and mapped on the geospatial route. Participants were invited to explore their data 
visualization and a structured interview was performed to assess perceptions and insights into the 
cardiovascular data. After exposure to the interactive visualization, data were collected from 
participants during four subsequent commuter journeys, known as the post-test phase. 
 
RESULTS 
High journey impedance is characterized by slow vehicle speed due to high traffic density and is 
known to be a source of cardiovascular stress during the driving task [6]. Periods of high journey 
impedance were identified for both pre-test and post-test phases based on vehicle speed (i.e. <10mph). 
The impact of the data visualization on cardiovascular reactivity during high journey impedance was 
explored using a two (before vs. after visualization) x two (AM drive vs. PM drive) repeated measures 
ANOVA. Results indicate that heart rate significantly declined during high journey impedance during 
the post-test phase compared to the pre-test phase (see Fig. 1). The analyses also revealed that HRV 
significantly increased during the post-test phase, which was indicative of reduced inflammation 
during high traffic impedance (see Fig. 1). The strength of the effects found and the statistical 
significance is F(1,7) = 22.2, p <.01, effect size = 0.76. 
 
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION 
The results provide evidence that exposure to the interactive visualization had a positive effect on 
cardiovascular reactivity to stress during real-world driving. The impact of high journey impedance 
on the cardiovascular system was significantly ameliorated after participants had been exposed to the 
data visualization. It is questionable whether the data visualization itself or the introspective exercise 
was responsible for this effect and further research is required to explore this issue. 
Chelsea Dobbins and Stephen Fairclough, “Wearable Sensors, Driving and the Visualization of Cardiovascular Stress During Everyday Life,” in the 
1st Neuroadaptive Technology Conference 2017 (NAT’17), Berlin, Germany, 19th – 21st July, 2017 [Accepted] 
      
a) b) 
Figure 1: Boxplots that illustrate a) mean heart rate and b) mean heart rate variability before and 
after exposing participants to the visualizations. 
 
 
 
  
Chelsea Dobbins and Stephen Fairclough, “Wearable Sensors, Driving and the Visualization of Cardiovascular Stress During Everyday Life,” in the 
1st Neuroadaptive Technology Conference 2017 (NAT’17), Berlin, Germany, 19th – 21st July, 2017 [Accepted] 
REFERENCES 
 
[1] J. Suls, “Anger and the Heart: Perspectives on Cardiac Risk, Mechanisms and Interventions,” 
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[3] H. D. Sesso, J. E. Buring, N. Rifai, G. J. Blake, J. M. Gaziano, and P. M. Ridker, “C-Reactive 
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2945–2951, Dec. 2003. 
[4] B. L. Ganzel, P. A. Morris, and E. Wethington, “Allostasis and the human brain: Integrating 
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[5] J. Hernandez, D. McDuff, R. Fletcher, and R. W. Picard, “Inside-Out: Reflecting on your Inner 
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[6] S. H. Fairclough, M. van der Zwaag, E. Spiridon, and J. Westerink, “Effects of mood induction 
via music on cardiovascular measures of negative emotion during simulated driving.,” Physiol. 
Behav., vol. 129, pp. 173–180, Apr. 2014. 


Wearable Sensors, Driving and the Visualization of Cardiovascular Stress During Everyday Life

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Wearable Sensors, Driving and the Visualization of Cardiovascular Stress During Everyday Life

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