Based on these data, the timing of the EMI can then be tailored so that real-time intervention occurs at times predicted by EMA data to coincide with high-risk events.
Replication of these findings in larger, more diverse samples will aid with the design and implementation of real-time intervention studies aimed at reducing stress-eating.
The vast distance between Mars and Earth means there is a 13-minute lag in communications, making real-time intervention impossible.
By understanding context, both in terms of the end user and the world around them, we can now truly create "mediated conversations," real-time intervention and help, online augmentation of everyday experiences and ultimately "contextually aware" apps.
Further development of high-impact, algorithm-driven, technology-mediated real-time intervention may help reduce drinking and promote positive health behavior change.
For example, smartphone software provides a novel opportunity to aid dietary regulation because the data storage and processing power of handsets enable real-time intervention.
Real-time assessment, known as ecological momentary assessment (EMA), and real-time intervention (ecological momentary intervention [EMI]) can significantly extend the reach and impact of interventions to help individuals reduce their drinking behavior.
Methods of real-time data capture, such as ecological momentary assessment (EMA) (Shiffman et al. 2008), and real-time intervention, such as ecological momentary intervention (EMI) (Heron and Smyth 2010), offer ways to reduce this disconnect.
Further studies should build on this pilot data to determine the efficacy of real-time intervention for sustained adherence and its potential to act as a surrogate for HIV RNA testing.
Letting user demand exclusively drive real-time intervention delivery is problematic, however, because high-risk situations usually coincide with states of "hot cognition" when people are in states of severe craving and may be unlikely to ask for help (Loewenstein 2005).
