Lit: A Game Intervention for Nicotine Smokers

The project will develop and evaluate Lit: A Game Intervention for Nicotine Smokers, a smoking reduction game to be delivered on a mobile platform (initially, on the iPod Touch or iPhone). The game is intended to be an alternative to smoking with the goal of reducing or eliminating tobacco use in players' lives. The game involves breathing into a microphone to control gameplay, and is coupled with sound, color, images, challenges and feedback to mimic the stimulant and relaxant effects of smoking. The design elements within the game result in two modes of play (“Rush” and “Relax”). These will be tested for their stimulant and relaxation effects through emotional response and physiological (EEG, heart rate, galvanic skin response) measures, and compared to subjects after smoking or who play the game in lieu of smoking. If successful, the game will emulate the effects of smoking as a replacement therapy for smokers who want to quit. It will do so by allowing smokers who crave the physiological effects of smoking to reach for this five-minute game rather than for a cigarette. Game design principles, such as those involved in the use of a breath controller with mobile devices, and their application(s) to similar health-related games will also be an outcome of this work.  The researchers can be reached at litthegame@gmail.com.