Virtual coach designed to help smokers quit

LONDON  - If you've tried to give up smoking but don't have the

willpower or are too embarrassed to seek help, Dutch researchers may have the

answer.

They are developing a virtual coach to provide smokers with round-the-clock

reinforcement to help them kick the habit.

"Shrouded in the anonymity provided by the Internet, smokers can log on

to a Web site and type questions and confessions into a chat box," New

Scientist magazine said on Wednesday.

The virtual coach, being designed by Betsy van Dijk and researchers at the

University of Twente in Enschede and the Dutch anti-smoking group Stivoro, will

give advice and encouragement at all hours.

The concept has already been used successfully in the United States to

encourage elderly people to exercise more, according to the magazine.

The female autoresponder will be programmed to have human characteristics and

will respond with answers and facial expressions used by Stivoro's human

counsellors.

If the virtual coach proves a success, the researchers may extend it to help

alcoholics and people trying to overcome phobias.