Smombie Guardian: We watch for potential obstacles while you are walking and conducting smartphone activities

With the growing dependence on smartphones for everyday activities, a large number of pedestrians nowadays are constantly fixated on their smartphone screens, and hence are susceptible to walking off pavements or colliding with other pedestrians. Reduced attention and situational awareness can render smartphone-occupied users, or smombies, oblivious to potential risks when using their smartphones while walking or driving. In this paper, we introduce a smartphone application, called Smombie Guardian, that detects obstacles and alerts smombies as they walk while viewing their smartphone screens to prevent potential collisions. Based on a user study with 74 participants who used Smombie Guardian in a real-life scenario, we highlight the effectiveness, usefulness, and unobtrusiveness of the algorithm and Smombie Guardian in helping users to avoid potential obstacles.