Embedded Sensing and Computing (ESC) Group

mSubstance: AI-Powered Sensing for Substance Use

Project Overview

Concept image of smartwatch sensing and a mobile app for behavior tracking

Smoking behavior is episodic and often missed by self-report, limiting the timing and personalization of cessation support. This project develops AIoT and mobile AI methods that combine smartwatch motion sensing, smoking-gesture recognition, and a smartphone intervention. Sense2Quit focuses on tobacco cessation for people with HIV: it distinguishes smoking gestures from similar hand-to-mouth activities, summarizes smoking patterns, and provides timely support during quit attempts. Prior work includes a pre-smoking activity sensing prototype, participatory app design, and a 60-person pilot that found the intervention feasible and acceptable. A new randomized trial will evaluate whether Sense2Quit improves biochemically verified abstinence. Ongoing projects also address cannabis and alcohol use.

ESC Group Team

Professor
Wenyao Xu
Postdoctoral researcher
Anarghya Das
Former IRES student
Juntao Feng

Collaborators

Publications

  1. Validating the Information Technology (IT) Implementation Framework to Implement mHealth Technology for Consumers: A Case Study of the Sense2Quit App for Smoking Cessation.International Journal of Medical Informatics, 202, article 105977, October 2025. [PDF] [BibTeX]Maeve Brin, Sydney Fontalvo, David Hu, Patricia Cioe, Ming-Chun Huang, Wenyao Xu, Rebecca Schnall.
  2. Feasibility and Acceptability of the Sense2Quit App for Improving Smoking Cessation in PWH.AIDS and Behavior, 29(6), 1920–1929, June 2025. [PDF] [BibTeX]Rebecca Schnall, Ming-Chun Huang, Maeve Brin, Patricia A. Cioe, Jianfang Liu, Anarghya Das, Sydney Fontalvo, Wenyao Xu.
  3. A Robust Cross-Platform Solution With the Sense2Quit System to Enhance Smoking Gesture Recognition: Model Development and Validation Study.Journal of Medical Internet Research, 27, article e67186, May 2025. [PDF] [BibTeX]Anarghya Das, Juntao Feng, Maeve Brin, Patricia Cioe, Rebecca Schnall, Ming-Chun Huang, Wenyao Xu.
  4. Development and Evaluation of Visualizations of Smoking Data for Integration into the Sense2Quit App for Tobacco Cessation.Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association, 31(2), 354–362, February 2024. [PDF] [BibTeX]Maeve Brin, Paul Trujillo, Ming-Chun Huang, Patricia A. Cioe, Huan Chen, Wenyao Xu, Rebecca Schnall.
  5. Pilot Testing of an mHealth App for Tobacco Cessation in People Living With HIV: Protocol for a Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial.JMIR Research Protocols, 12, article e49558, October 2023. [PDF] [BibTeX]Maeve Brin, Paul Trujillo, Haomiao Jia, Patricia A. Cioe, Ming-Chun Huang, Huan Chen, Xiaoye Qian, Wenyao Xu, Rebecca Schnall.
  6. Theoretically Guided Iterative Design of the Sense2Quit App for Tobacco Cessation in Persons Living With HIV.International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 20(5), article 4219, February 2023. [PDF] [BibTeX]Rebecca Schnall, Paul Trujillo, Gabriella Alvarez, Claudia L. Michaels, Maeve Brin, Ming-Chun Huang, Huan Chen, Wenyao Xu, Patricia A. Cioe.
  7. Smoking Cessation System for Preemptive Smoking Detection.IEEE Internet of Things Journal, 9(5), 3204–3214, March 2022. [PDF] [BibTeX]Gabriel Maguire, Huan Chen, Rebecca Schnall, Wenyao Xu, Ming-Chun Huang.

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