Cellular phones for reducing battlefield stress: rationale and a preliminary research

Battlefield stress is the consequence of man being exposed to the hostile environment of combat. Combat stress is specifically caused by man's feat of the dangers of combat, and is fueled and tempered by other variables such as morale, cohesion, fatigue, confidence, training and intensity of the combat. Treatment is often as simple as giving soldiers time to rest for a few hours or days, to get a shower and some sleep, to talk about the feelings they have in the presence of a counselor. Only in rare cases soldiers undergo more serious psychological treatment. One of the best strategies for dealing with stress is learning how to relax. However, relaxing is difficult to achieve in a battlefield. In this chapter we suggest the use of mobile multimedia technology--PDA/cellular phones--for the provision of advanced coping techniques suitable to the battlefield context. Specifically, we developed a protocol based on mobile narratives, to be experienced on mobile multimedia technology--3G cellular phones or PDAs--like the one now under development by the US Army within the "Soldier as a System--SaaS" and "Future Combat Systems--FCS" projects. Mobile narratives are audio-visual experiences, implemented on mobile devices, in which the narrative component is a critical aspect to induce a feeling of presence and engagement. Through the link between the feeling of presence and the emotional state, mobile narratives may be used to improve the mood state in their users. The rationale of the approach and a preliminary test of the proposed method are presented and discussed.