Smartphone gaming can be harmful for some seeking relief from boredom

Smartphone gaming can be harmful to players who game to escape their negative mood and feelings of boredom, a new study has found. Researchers at the University of Waterloo found that bored “escape players”—those who have difficulty engaging with the real environment and sustaining attention—may seek “flow,” which is a deep and effortless state of […]

Smartphone photos can be used to detect anemia

A picture of a person’s inner eyelid taken with a standard smartphone camera can be used to screen for anemia, according to a new study published this week in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by Selim Suner of Brown University and Rhode Island Hospital, U.S., and colleagues. Anemia, a low blood hemoglobin concentration, affects an […]

Fred Hutch-led clinical trial shows new smartphone app helps smokers quit

Scientists at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center believe they’ve found a better of use of mobile technology to help adult cigarette smokers quit. In a large clinical trial published in JAMA Internal Medicine, a team led by Dr. Jonathan Bricker, a professor in Fred Hutch’s Public Health Sciences Division, tested the efficacy of the new […]

Using a smartphone to diagnose COVID-19 at home

In Pennsylvania and other U.S. states, one of the keys to safely reopening society amid the COVID-19 pandemic is providing sufficient testing so that new cases of the disease do not overwhelm the public healthcare system. University of Pittsburgh professors are reimagining testing using a device that nearly every American owns—a smartphone. Using the existing […]