Investigating Receptiveness to Sensing and Inference in the Home Using Sensor Proxies
Eun Kyoung Choe, Sunny Consolvo, Jaeyeon Jung, Beverly Harrison, Shwetak N. Patel, Julie A. Kientz
TsungYun 20130701
Outline
• Introduction• Study Method• Analysis• Discussion• Conclusion
Introduction
• Recent technical advances accelerate the integration of sensors into consumer devices in the home– Full-body 3D motion capture in games– Facial/voice recognition capabilities– Energy sensing systems– Wearable RFID in security systems
But … is this a good thing? Privacy problem?
Introduction
• Sensing and inference data captured in the home could be highly sensitive– Intimacy/secretive activities– Confidential conversations– Innocuous activities : cooking and eating [4]
• Multiple stakeholders may have different perspectives on what is acceptable– Stakeholder: both householders and visitors
Introduction
• This study investigates householders’ receptiveness to various sensing technologies
• Offer a number of design insights which designers can use to reduce some concerns observed in the study
Study Method
• Three phase– Initial in-lab session– Four weeks using sensor proxies in-situ– Exit interviews
• Participants– 11 households (10 females, 12 males, aged 28-54)– various levels of education, occupation– owned a desktop/laptop with an average of 2.5
computers per household (min=1, max=5)
Study Method
• (I) In-lab session– General population is not familiar with how
sensing technologies work and what might be logged
– Background survey and technology education session
– Four sensing data: video, audio, electricity use, and movement
Study Method
• (I) In-lab session– Encouraged participants to brainstorm possible
application scenarios for each sensing technology– Consider the trade-offs (benefits/risks)– If participants were too positive about the sensors
or applications, we probed about potential risks and vice versa
Study Method
• (II) In-situ Phase– Cultural Probes method [7]• A technique used to inspire ideas in a design process• Probes : small packages that can include any sort of
artifact (like a map, postcard, camera or diary)• participants record specific events, feelings or
interactions using probes– Take-home packages
Study Method
Study Method
• (II) In-situ Phase– 4 weeks– kitchen, master bedroom, family room, and child’s
or guest bedroom/study room– not to turn on the sensor proxies during the first
week– sensor light turned on whenever motion was
detected
Study Method
Study Method
• (III) Exit Interview– Ask participants about…• perceptions toward different sensing data• utility of the potential applications• issues regarding data access• issues regarding notification methods
Analysis
• Perceived benefits and risks– Perceived benefits of in-home sensing applications– Perceived risks and concerns of in-home sensing
• Tensions regarding sensing and inference– Tensions between couples– Tensions between parents and children– Tensions between householders and visitors
Analysis
• Perceived benefits and risks– Perceived benefits of in-home sensing applications– Perceived risks and concerns of in-home sensing
• Tensions regarding sensing and inference– Tensions between couples– Tensions between parents and children– Tensions between householders and visitors
Analysis
• Perceived benefits of in-home sensing applications– People may be willing to accept invasive
technologies if perceived benefits outweigh potential risks [19]
– Applications directly related to household members’ health and safety
– Monetary benefits and incentives
Analysis
• Applications directly related to household members’ health and safety–
–
Analysis
• Still many participants were reluctant to the use of home automation systems–
–
Analysis
• Monetary benefits and incentives–
–
Analysis
• Perceived benefits and risks– Perceived benefits of in-home sensing applications– Perceived risks and concerns of in-home sensing
• Tensions regarding sensing and inference– Tensions between couples– Tensions between parents and children– Tensions between householders and visitors
Analysis
• Perceived risks and concerns of in-home sensing applications– Private Nature of the In-home Sensing and
Inference Data – Unintended Consequences of Recording and
Playback– Possibility of Data Leaks: Security and Data
Storage
Analysis
• Private Nature of the In-home Sensing and Inference Data–
Analysis
• Unintended Consequences of Recording and Playback–
–
Analysis
• Possibility of Data Leaks: Security and Data Storage–
Analysis
• Perceived benefits and risks– Perceived benefits of in-home sensing applications– Perceived risks and concerns of in-home sensing
• Tensions regarding sensing and inference– Tensions between couples– Tensions between parents and children– Tensions between householders and visitors
Analysis
• Tensions between couples–
–
Analysis
• Tensions between couples–
Analysis
• Perceived benefits and risks– Perceived benefits of in-home sensing applications– Perceived risks and concerns of in-home sensing
• Tensions regarding sensing and inference– Tensions between couples– Tensions between parents and children– Tensions between householders and visitors
Analysis
• Tensions between parents and children–
–
Analysis
• Tensions between parents and children– Not everyone agreed on including their child’s
opinion in deciding whether to adopt sensing and inference systems
–
Analysis
• Perceived benefits and risks– Perceived benefits of in-home sensing applications– Perceived risks and concerns of in-home sensing
• Tensions regarding sensing and inference– Tensions between couples– Tensions between parents and children– Tensions between householders and visitors
Analysis
• Tensions between householders and visitors–
Analysis
• Tensions between householders and visitors– Participants had different strategies for how they
communicate an in-home sensing to a visitor– Depending on the relationship between the
householder and visitor
Analysis
• Tensions between householders and visitors–
Discussion
• Mechanisms to Reduce Privacy Risks– Limited capability sensors for the home• A new microphone-based cough sensor that only sends
the relevant features of coughing sounds• Non-invertible audio processing techniques• Convert a general-purpose camera into a single event
detector, e.g., fall detector
Discussion
• Mechanisms to Reduce Privacy Risks– Context-aware sensing• Switch back and forth between high-fidelity (e.g., raw
video) and low-fidelity (e.g., blurred video) sensing• High-fidelity when they are not at home and low-
fidelity when they are at home• Automatically switch
Discussion
• Mechanisms to Reduce Privacy Risks– Secure recording with limited playback• Enforce recorded data to be automatically deleted after
a certain time period• To be viewed only a pre-specified number of times
Discussion
• Tensions between Aesthetics and Visible Notification – Participants did not like to have sensing devices be
visibly installed in their home– System sometimes needs to be hidden (e.g.,
supervising service people and babysitters)– Designing a gentle notification system (e.g., a
location-based reminder on a cell phone) warrants future research efforts.
Conclusion
• While in-home sensing and inference systems can provide numerous benefits, privacy risks and concerns exist
• Conduct in-lab activities and four-weeks in situ with a cultural probe that used sensor proxies with 22 participants
Conclusion
• Gather contextualized feedback on participants’ perceived benefits and risks of in-home sensing applications
• Provide design insights to alleviate perceived privacy concerns and tensions
Q&A
Thanks for your listening