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436 CHAPTER 14 Online and ubiquitous HCI research

with these familiar tasks may be intriguing, further work will likely be needed to un-
derstand when, where, and for whom such models are appropriate. For more news on
developments in Human Computation, see the web site of the Human Computation
Institute (http://humancomputation.org).

14.4 SENSORS AND UBIQUITOUS COMPUTING

Taking advantage of advances in miniaturization of components, reduced power
requirements, and advances in abilities to sense and distribute information without
physical connections through electrical or data networks, engineers have developed
approaches that revolutionize our ability to collect data. Originally discussed in
the context of the RFID tags that can be used to sense uniquely identified objects
through radio frequencies, the “Internet of Things” (Ashton, 2009) has become a fa-
miliar means of describing a landscape where data collection, sensing, and comput-
ing are all around us, and often invisibly hidden in unobtrusive devices. Although
the smartphones and fitness monitors described in Chapter 13 are perhaps the most
familiar, they are only the beginning. Sensors embedded in clothes or eyeglasses
have arrived in commercial products, and Internet-connected thermostats, security
alarms, and security cameras help concerned homeowners keep an eye on things
while they are away. Low-cost development platforms including Arduino and
Raspberry PI provide tinkerers with the tools to design their own ubiquitous data
collection tools.
Broadly speaking, HCI researchers engage in two types of research with these
sensors. From a system-building point of view, needs assessment through qualitative
research is generally needed to understand what should be built and how it should
work. Once systems are deployed, analysis of interaction data (using techniques
from Chapters 12 and 13) will generally be combined with ethnography (Chapter 9),
case studies (Chapter 7), and other qualitative approaches (Chapter 11) to understand
how the tools worked in practice. A discussion of some example systems and their
techniques and methods will help us appreciate some of the challenges and how they
have been addressed. Table 14.2 provides an overview summary of types of sensor/
ubiquitous research, research methods, and challenges.

Table 14.2 Overview of Study Types, Research Methods, and Challenges of
HCI Research Involving Sensors and Ubiquitous Computing
Study Types Methods Challenges
• Alternative input • Diaries • Data transfer
• Sensors and monitoring • Interviews • Data storage
• Mobile devices • Field studies • Data processing
• Wearables • Usage log analysis • Engineering and
• Ethnography configuration of sensors
• Participatory design and networking