7 research outputs found

    Mood meter: counting smiles in the wild

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    In this study, we created and evaluated a computer vision based system that automatically encouraged, recognized and counted smiles on a college campus. During a ten-week installation, passersby were able to interact with the system at four public locations. The aggregated data was displayed in real time in various intuitive and interactive formats on a public website. We found privacy to be one of the main design constraints, and transparency to be the best strategy to gain participants' acceptance. In a survey (with 300 responses), participants reported that the system made them smile more than they expected, and it made them and others around them feel momentarily better. Quantitative analysis of the interactions revealed periodic patterns (e.g., more smiles during the weekends) and strong correlation with campus events (e.g., fewer smiles during exams, most smiles the day after graduation), reflecting the emotional responses of a large community.Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Council for the ArtsCaja Madrid (Fellowship)Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Festival of Art, Science, and Technology (FAST)

    Anxiety and autism:towards personalized digital health

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    For many people living with conditions such as autism, anxiety manifests so powerfully it has a big impact on quality of life. By investigating the suitability of truly customizable wearable health devices we build on prior research that found each experience of anxiety in people with autism is unique, so 'one-suits all' solutions are not suitable. In addition, users desire agency and control in all aspects of the system. The participative approach we take is to iteratively co-develop prototypes with end users. Here we describe a case study of the co-development of one prototype, a digital stretch wristband that records interaction for later reflection called Snap. Snap has been designed to sit within a platform that allows the distributed and sustainable design, manufacture and data analysis of customizable digital health technologies. We contribute to HCI with (1) lessons learned from a DIY co-development process that follows the principles of modularity, participation and iteration and (2) the potential impact of technology in self-management of anxiety and the broader design implications of addressing unique anxiety experiences

    AFFECT-PRESERVING VISUAL PRIVACY PROTECTION

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    The prevalence of wireless networks and the convenience of mobile cameras enable many new video applications other than security and entertainment. From behavioral diagnosis to wellness monitoring, cameras are increasing used for observations in various educational and medical settings. Videos collected for such applications are considered protected health information under privacy laws in many countries. Visual privacy protection techniques, such as blurring or object removal, can be used to mitigate privacy concern, but they also obliterate important visual cues of affect and social behaviors that are crucial for the target applications. In this dissertation, we propose to balance the privacy protection and the utility of the data by preserving the privacy-insensitive information, such as pose and expression, which is useful in many applications involving visual understanding. The Intellectual Merits of the dissertation include a novel framework for visual privacy protection by manipulating facial image and body shape of individuals, which: (1) is able to conceal the identity of individuals; (2) provide a way to preserve the utility of the data, such as expression and pose information; (3) balance the utility of the data and capacity of the privacy protection. The Broader Impacts of the dissertation focus on the significance of privacy protection on visual data, and the inadequacy of current privacy enhancing technologies in preserving affect and behavioral attributes of the visual content, which are highly useful for behavior observation in educational and medical settings. This work in this dissertation represents one of the first attempts in achieving both goals simultaneously

    Designing a parent-driven coaching system for indirect speech therapy

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    Ph. D. ThesisBased on UK Department of Education annual report 2017, seven percent of preschool children experience speech and language developmental delays. The report goes on to argue that these delays negatively impact success at school. Such delays are more common amongst children with cerebral palsy or autism. Early intervention therapy is recognised as being vital in minimising the long-term impact of such delays and the responsibilities for delivering such therapies most often lies with parents or primary carers. Therapists typically support parents by providing speech and language therapy sessions. The primary goal of these sessions are; to teach the parents techniques to promote the children’s communication skills, identify communication opportunities, and adopt and adapt learned communication strategies in their everyday interactions with the children in their natural environment. While parent-delivered therapies can alleviate the demand on therapists and healthcare services by reducing the amount of professional contact time, they can also create an overwhelming burden on parents. This thesis is an in-depth exploration of early speech therapy programs and identifies the values and support needs that can used to understand the parents’ and therapists’ experiences as well as identify indictors to improve therapy adoption in this context. Additionally, this research investigates the role of coaching technology in improving communication and collaboration between parents. New parent-driven coaching technologies to support reflections on home practices and address the challenges of home therapy delivery is also presented. A case study approach is undertaken to explore this area with two different clinical partners and therapy protocols. Each study commences with a contextual investigation and moves toward co-design and evaluation of digital solutions with therapists and parents. The first case study, eSALT, presents the design of KeepCam, a parent-led selective data capture and sharing tool to support parents of children with cerebral palsy. The second case study presents the design of ePACT, a self-reflection tool to support parents of children with autism. This thesis reports on how mobile video coaching tools can be used as an external drive for continuous engagement with therapy programs and facilitate social support. It also identifies opportunities for technology to play important roles in supporting early therapy programs. The thesis draws upon these case studies to inform the design of a responsive model of support for indirect therapies, through which the role of design and power relations in healthcare are explored.Saudi Ministry of Education, King Saud Universit
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