How people behave in the sun is a key public health issue. Although the promotion of healthy lifestyles encourages people to play sport outdoors or enjoy nature, the human body is at risk due to exposure to UV radiation from sunlight, which can cause health problems that are both serious (e.g. skin cancer) and aesthetic (e.g. wrinkles).¹ However, public health promotion concerning sun safety faces somewhat of a mixed message: exposure brings benefits as well as risks. Sunlight is crucial for synthesis of vitamin D in our bodies, although the extent of the need for prolonged exposure is debatable.² Correct timing and, particularly, limiting of exposure to sunlight (in both length and intensity) is therefore a critical factor in sun safety, as are the use of protective clothing and sunscreens.³

Personalised feedback on sun-related risk and exposure is particularly desirable⁴ given that people's skin differs (due to both genetic heritage, and their own geographical location), and also because they may respond better psychologically to a tailored message. To date, however, there has been little research using interactive intelligent computer platforms to deliver such personalisation. Recently, we have developed computer software that makes the user aware of their personal exposure to UV from sunlight. This work extends our previous research (Petar Goulev and colleagues at Imperial College London) where non-intrusive sensors that detect sensory patterns were related to emotional states to improve human-computer interaction and awareness.⁵

The need for non-intrusivity in any type of sensor technology is particularly important in this context.⁶ On the one hand, the purpose of sun-aware computer technology is to increase awareness of sun safety, so that customers who download software can mitigate the risks involved in sun exposure. On the other hand, the design of the products themselves needs to be relatively unobtrusive in people's daily lives. In other words, to not create a sense of their being ‘monitored’, whilst still offering relevant and useful personal feedback.

Beach-based awareness and communication platform.

We have developed and tested a prototype of a mobile app (see Figure 1) that advises users on a safe duration of sun exposure. Its main feature is an interface that can take into account different skin types due to genetic heritage, based on the user's own classification. This information on skin type is combined with real-time information on UV levels in the user's current location to suggest an appropriate personalised maximum sun exposure time to the user. Visual aids are used to provide general information on sunlight intensity. Using computer technology offers the opportunity to provide greatly increased levels of personalisation and geolocation. In our design, the application asks the user to enter their skin type by selecting from a pictorial menu with an over-imposed number from one to six. Then, after reading the current UV level, the app suggests maximum safe duration to stay in the sun. The number of minutes counts down, until three minutes before the end of sage exposure is reached, when a warning sound is played and a message appears on the phone's screen.

To reach as wide as possible an audience, the app is being developed in Java, a language that is available on the most popular mobile platforms, including Android, Apple iOS, and Windows Phone. The server-side Java application runs on Mac OS X. Java-based apps are platform-agnostic and are sustainable because they use existing technological devices that users may already own (such as smart phones), unlike many other sun-safety solutions which are single-feature products that have to be purchased separately.

We carried out this research in the spirit of ‘design activism’, which is based on the idea that society can be improved by changing the design of the objects around us.⁷ At the heart of this paradigm is the notion that emergent social, environmental and personal problems can be tackled using design practices that are both sustainable and collective, such as products that address health issues. For example, we (Farrer and colleagues) have investigated fashion clothing and textiles that are sun-protective.⁸ This is a paradigm shift from the usual medical research model, because it acknowledges the drive of consumer culture and uses it to address societal health issues.

Exploring this concept further, we are developing electro-conductive textiles that respond to changes in UV radiation. Tests are being carried out on prototype garments incorporating these materials by Barrier Solutions team-member Sarah Robertson at the University of Dundee. This approach enhances the authors' proposal for a mobile solar exposure app.

In summary, we believe that interactive technology will have a transformative impact on sun safety behaviour. We are particularly interested in how using interactive technologies offers an opportunity to provide public health benefits for otherwise ‘hard to reach’ groups, such as young people, who may feel either impervious to health risks or excluded from conventional public health campaigns. This can be accomplished by increasing awareness within their commonly used technologies (e.g. PDAs, tablet computers). Our future work will expand upon an idea we conceived in 1995 (Farrer and colleagues) investigating ‘track and trace’ tagging of fibres to follow their global production and disposal journeys. In doing so, we hope to raise attention to the impact current cotton-production methods have on the environment, and particularly on natural habitats. We envisage another app that would supply a consumer with a wide range of information relating to this tracing mechanism, including a calculation of the carbon footprints of the manufacture of garments. This would empower the consumer to make an informed choice regarding garment purchases, so minimising social and environmental impact.