Embrace the Chaos, It's Not Noise

Abstract

The lessons learned from seven years of the testing of a behavioral monitoring system— the Everyday Living Monitoring System (ELMS) — outside the laboratory in the real world are discussed. Initially, the real world was perceived as messy and filled with noise that just delayed and complicated the testing and development of the system. However, over time, it became clear that without embracing the chaos of the world and listening very carefully to its noise, the monitoring system could not be successfully moved from the laboratory to the real world. Specific lessons learned at each stage of development and testing are discussed, as well as the challenges that are associated with the actual commercialization of the system.

Informing the Design of “Lifestyle Monitoring” Technology for the Detection of Health Deterioration in Long-Term Conditions: A Qualitative Study of People Living With Heart Failure

“…This targeted approach offers the potential for a reduction in the number of sensors targeted at specific activities, which may provide more clinically meaningful data than a standard broad-brush setup [47]. It may also lead to the development of sensors designed specifically to monitor activities of clinical significance.…”

“…Utilizing technologies that measure physiological changes in parallel with LM provides opportunity to assess the respective accuracy of both data sources and adds an additional depth of information [47]. It would also provide an additional safety net for patients.…”

Ceding Control, and Gaining Freedom: Anthropological Research in the Real World

“…Almost a decade ago, I wrote an article with a colleague titled, Embrace the Chaos, It's not Noise: Lessons Learned from Non-Traditional Environments, 2 and presented similar ideas at a series of workshops, national and international conferences, and professional meetings of care providers. The response to the article and the talks was extremely informative.…”