The World Well-Being Project (WWBP) at the University of Pennsylvania’s Positive Psychology Center offers cell phone data collection services for digital phenotyping and personal sensing research projects using the open-source AWARE framework.

AWARE framework

The AWARE framework is an open-source software package designed for cell phone data collection. The purpose of AWARE is to enable scientific research using cell phone data.

AWARE consists of two primary components:

1. A cell phone app that runs on study participants’ cell phones (Android and iOS) accessing and transmitting sensor data
2. A server that collects and stores this data

Data Collected

The AWARE framework measures data for the following sensors and data sources:

• Accelerometer
• Applications (Android only)
• Barometer
• Battery
• Bluetooth
• Communication
• ESM
• Gravity
• Gyroscope
• App installations (Android only)
• Light (Android only)
• Linear accelerometer
• Locations
• Magnetometer
• Network
• Keyboard (Android only)
• Processor
• Proximity (Android only)
• Rotation
• Screen
• Telephony (Android only)
• Temperature (Android only)
• Wifi Network

The precise data collected varies depending on cell phone operating type (Android or iOS). For up-to-date details, please see this page: https://awareframework.com/sensors/.

WWBP Services Offered

We have experience deploying both components of the AWARE framework for research purposes, and we can provide the following services to your research group:

• Cloning of the AWARE server
• Hosting of the AWARE server
• Monitoring of data collection
• Analysis of data
• Customization to the AWARE cell phone app or server

Please note that you are responsible for recruiting study participants and for installing the AWARE cell phone app on study participants’ phones. We can provide guidance on how to install the AWARE cell phone app.

Cloning

Our cloning services provide you with access to a functional AWARE server running on an Amazon EC2 virtual server. You are responsible for hosting costs and server administration. Server administrators should be familiar with the Linux, Apache, MySQL, and PHP (LAMP) stack.

Hosting

Our hosting services provide you with access to a functional AWARE server that we will host on an Amazon EC2 virtual server. This service includes both cloning and server administration.

Monitoring

We can provide data collection monitoring using our in-house AWARE monitoring dashboard. This service ensures that data collection interruptions are identified and addressed in a timely fashion.

Analysis

We can additionally provide analysis of the data collected with AWARE. These analysis services will be tailored to your specific needs, and generally involve close collaboration. Please reach out to us to discuss the type of analysis required for your project.

Packages

We offer the following standard packages:

• Cloning
• Hosting
• Hosting, monitoring, and analysis
• Hosting, monitoring, and analysis with cusotmizations

Our standard pricing structure reflects a study with up to 500 research subjects and a duration of less than one year. Please contact Garrick Sherman at garricks@sas.upenn.edu for a custom cost estimate or if the packages listed above do not meet your needs.

Please note that the AWARE framework is open-source and free to use. We are not selling this software; we are selling our services in helping you deploy and use this software.

Additional services

WWBP will provide updates/fixes for the AWARE framework if and when they become available. WWBP has no obligation to provide maintenance, support, updates, enhancements or modifications for AWARE.

WWBP will schedule calls with your staff for consultation on the AWARE framework as needed, but not more often than once a week.

WWBP will provide access to the AWARE wiki.

Contact

Please contact Garrick Sherman (garricks@sas.upenn.edu) for additional information or to schedule a phone call to assess your digital phenotyping and personal sensing data collection needs.