Continuous stress detection using the sensors of commercial smartwatch

Abstract Stress detection is becoming a popular field in machine learning and this study focuses on recognizing stress using the sensors of commercially available smartwatches. In most of the previous studies, stress detection is based on partly or fully on electrodermal activity sensor (EDA). However, if the final aim of the study is to build a smartwatch application, using EDA signal is problematic as the smartwatches currently in the market do not include sensor to measure EDA signal. Therefore, this study surveys what sensors the smartwatches currently in the market include, and which of them 3rd party developers have access to. Moreover, it is studied how accurately stress can be detected user-independently using different sensor combinations. In addition, it is studied how detection rates vary between study subjects and what kind of effect window size has to the recognition rates. All of the experiments are based on publicly available WESAD dataset. The results show that, indeed, EDA signal is not necessary when detecting stress user-independently, and therefore, commercial smartwatches can be used for recognizing stress when the used window length is big enough. However, it is also noted that recognition rate varies a lot between the study subjects

Privacy, identity and security in ambient intelligence: A scenario analysis

The success of ambient intelligence (AmI) will depend on how secure it can be made, how privacy and other rights of individuals can be protected and how individuals can come to trust the intelligent world that surrounds them and through which they move. This article addresses these issues by analysing scenarios for ambient intelligence applications that have been developed over the last few years. It elaborates the assumptions that promotors make about the likely use of the technology and possibly unwanted side effects. It concludes with a number of threats for personal privacy that become evident

Design guidelines for analysis and safeguarding of privacy threats in ubicomp applications

Realisation of the Ubicomp vision in the real world creates significant threats to personal privacy due to constant information collection by numerous tiny sensors, active information exchange over short and long distances, long-term storage of large quantities of data, and reasoning on collected and stored data. An analysis of more than 100 Ubicomp scenarios, however, shows that applications nowadays are often developed without considering privacy issues. This paper suggests guidelines for estimation of threats to privacy, depending on real world application settings and on choice of technology; and guidelines for developing technological safeguards against privacy threats

Unobtrusive continuous stress detection in knowledge work-statistical analysis on user acceptance

Abstract Modern knowledge work is highly intense and demanding, exposing workers to long-term psychosocial stress. In order to address the problem, stress detection technologies have been developed, enabling the continuous assessment of personal stress based on multimodal sensor data. However, stakeholders lack insights into how employees perceive different monitoring technologies and whether they are willing to share stress-indicative data in order to sustain well-being at the individual, team, and organizational levels in the knowledge work context. To fill this research gap, we developed a theoretical model for knowledge workers’ interest in sharing their stress-indicative data collected with unobtrusive sensors and examined it empirically using structural equation modeling (SEM) with a survey of 181 European knowledge workers. The results did not show statistically significant privacy concerns regarding environmental sensors such as air quality, sound level, and motion sensors. On the other hand, concerns about more privacy-sensitive methods such as tracking personal device usage patterns did not prevent user acceptance nor intent to share data. Overall, knowledge workers were highly interested in employing stress monitoring technologies to measure their stress levels and receive information about their personal well-being. The results validate the willingness to accept the unobtrusive, continuous stress detection in the context of knowledge work

The illusion of security

A fictional scenario of daily life in a world networked with ambient intelligence illustrates the dark side of the technology and the need for appropriate safeguards

Designing socially acceptable multimodal interaction in cooking assistants

Cooking assistant is an application that needs to find a trade-off between providing efficient help to the users (e.g., reminding them to stir a meal if it is about to burn) and avoiding users' annoyance. This trade-off may vary in different contexts, such as cooking alone or in a group, cooking new or known recipe etc. The results of the user study, presented in this paper, show which features of a multimodal interface users perceive as socially acceptable or unacceptable in different situations, and how this perception depends on user's age.Elena Vildjiounaite, Julia Kantorovitch, Vesa Kyllönen, Ilkka Niskanen, Mika Hillukkala, Kimmo Virtanen, Olli Vuorinen, Satu-Marja Mäkelä, Tommi Keränen, Johannes Peltola, Jani Mäntyjärvi, Andrew Tokmakof