The goal of this project is to apply machine learning methods to model the wellbeing of MIT undergraduate students. Extensive data is obtained from the SNAPSHOT study, which monitors participating students on a 24/7 basis, collecting data on their location, sleep schedule, phone and SMS communications, academics, social networks, and even physiological markers like skin conductance, skin temperature, and acceleration.
We extract features from this data and apply a variety of machine learning algorithms, including Gaussian mixture models and Multi-task Multi-Kernel Learning; we are currently working to apply Bayesian hierarchical multi-task learning and Deep Learning as well.
Interesting findings include: when participants visit novel locations they tend to be happier; when they use their phones or stay indoors for long periods they tend to be unhappy; and when several dimensions of wellbeing (including stress, happiness, health, and energy) are learned together, classification accuracy improves. The biggest classification accuracy improvements come when we use multi-tasking algorithms to leverage group data while customizing a model for each participant.