Exploring Interpretations of Data from the Internet of Things in the Home

Abstract

The 'Internet of Things' can be expected to radically increase the amount of potentially sensitive data gathered in our homes. This study explores the social implications of the presentation of data that could be collected within the household. In particular it focuses on how ambiguities in this data, combined with existing interpersonal relationships, could influence social dynamics. Thirty--five participants were each presented with three separate household scenarios, involving ambiguous data which were collected and presented via near--future Internet of Things technologies. Each participant was asked to respond to a series of open and closed questions about how they would interpret the data, how they would react to it, and their general opinions of the technologies presented. Through qualitative and quantitative analysis of their responses, we contribute an understanding of how people interpret information about those around them. We find a common willingness to make inferences based on ambiguities within the data, even when participants are aware of the limitations of their understanding. We also find that sharing data produced via tagging of everyday objects raises a high level of privacy concern, and that in a somewhat incoherent stance users are more comfortable sharing data publicly than in a targeted fashion with commercial organisations. Our findings also suggest that the age of the target user group has a greater impact on ease of use judgements than the nature of the technology, and we find some evidence that user's interpretations can be biased by an individual's age.

Tailored scenarios

“…Compared to our previous scenario-based study using fictional characters [2], respondents also drew a stronger distinction between sharing within the home, and sharing information outside ( fig. 4).…”

“…As part of our wider project in this area, we first ran a static scenario-based study using similar technology scenarios [2]. We also ran field trials where a display sharing information about individual's physical activity is installed in a communal area of homes (similar to the Fit Shoes scenario).…”

“…Reflecting on our prior use of a static scenario-based online survey method to explore this area [2], we found challenging methodological issues around the interpretation of scenarios by respondents. It is difficult to present the use of social technologies without specific people interacting with them, but we had no sense of whether respondents were able to relate the fictional characters we used to their lives.…”

The Data Driven Lives of Wargaming Miniatures

“…By making the things around us [19], smart [18] and even social [2], IoT promises to deliver new generations of digital services in areas such as logistics and smart-environments. In addition to the considerable technical challenges raised by IoT [13], there is also a growing interest in the social, cultural [8] and privacy implications [21] of embedding digital systems into everyday objects.…”

An Empirical Investigation Into Typing Errors in Interactive Digital Television Applications

“…Most of these advanced services require interaction capabilities, which are possible now thanks to the proliferation of home Internet connections (Brandtzaeg, Heim, & Karahasanovic, 2011), the improvement of set-top-box and TV devices, and the evolution of telecommunication networks. The Internet and TV have merged, forming services such as Internet Protocol TV (Spira, 2011): a current, massively deployed Internet of Things in the Home service (Brown et al, 2013). However, if complex applications are to be developed, effective methods of user interaction have to be designed, taking into account that the main interaction device available is still the remote control.…”