Using consumer-grade wearables and novel measures of sleep and activity to analyze changes in behavioral health during an 8-month simulated Mars mission

Abstract

For analyzing changes in an individual's health over time, this research has developed objective measures for comparing behavioral patterns, including sleep quality and activity scores. These novel measures of behavioral health have provided insight about how sleep debt accumulates after long, extended days, how sleep disruption and recovery from wakefulness occur during the night, and when cross-correlations exist between measures. This data-driven approach to quantifying behavioral patterns is informed by minute-by-minute data from consumer-grade, wrist-worn wearables. In this 8-month longitudinal study, Jawbone UP wristbands and the Jawbone UP API were utilized to collect minute-by-minute data about the behavior of crewmembers participating in a simulated Mars mission. To study the challenges of living and working on the planet Mars, for eight months, these crewmembers were confined to a Mars-like habitat, living in close quarters, isolated from the rest of humanity at a high elevation on Mauna Loa volcano in Hawaii, wearing mock spacesuits while exploring the volcanic terrain, consuming shelf-stable foods, restricted in water usage, relying on solar energy, and delayed in communications with 20-min lag-times for delivering messages to and from the crew. Analyzing the behavior of these astronaut-like individuals has led to the development of objective measures for quantifying sleep patterns, that have potential for contributing to the development of next-generation, smart wearables.