This Friday, both Judit and Elaine will update the lab on their recent work.
Judit Varga: Geocaching: Tracing Geosocial Data
In this talk I discuss how scholars use geotagged social media data – such as tweets, Instagram and Flickr posts – to study situated action. I draw on published literature, participant observation and 10 semi-structured interviews I conducted with scholars from diverse disciplinary backgrounds - including computer science, geography, sociology, mathematics and physics - who use geotagged social media data in their research. HCI and other social scientific frameworks emphasize that activities are situated in their material, interpersonal and cultural contexts. Study designs often need to account for this situatedness, which poses methodological challenges. I discuss three sets of opportunities and challenges associated with exploring the geo-social situatedness of activities using geotagged social media data. First, scholars use existing relational theories to guide data analysis. However, applying such theories to geotagged social media data poses epistemic challenges. Second, researchers link geotagged social media data to other existing data sources which enhances narratives of activities’ embeddedness. However, privacy considerations and legal requirements might complicate such efforts. Third, researchers augment existing frameworks with a spatial dimension using the data’s geotag, resulting in context-rich narratives. However, frictions may arise about what aspects of the context scholars include in data models, and how they account for those which are left out. I conclude the talk by discussing how local knowledge mediates such research activities.
Elaine Venancio Santos: Barriers to and facilitators of acceptance towards sensor-based technology to monitor health and well-being
The growth of the ageing population worldwide raises concerns on human health and well-being. In this context, ubiquitous technologies have the potential to support health monitoring activities. This study explores factors that affect the engagement with these technologies, contributing to a better understanding by exploring the individual’s needs of future elderly people on its adoption. We conducted a cross-cultural study with twenty-six participants from Brazil and England middle-aged and elderly aged in order to investigate the acceptance of sensor-based devices. It was conducted a semi-structured interview using the vignette technique to explore three devices being used to monitor mental and physical health and well-being. A systematic thematic analysis was used to extract themes and sub-themes. Similarities in the barriers to and facilitators of the use of sensor-based technologies have been observed in both countries. As a result facilitators and barriers were categorised as: privacy and trust-related factors, user-related factors and technology-related factors. A total of 32 subthemes of barriers, facilitators or moderators emerged. We expected that these themes provide ways to promote the design of sensor-based technologies to monitor health and well-being.