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SensorTune: a mobile auditory interface for DIY wireless sensor networks

SensorTune: a mobile auditory interface for DIY wireless sensor networks
SensorTune: a mobile auditory interface for DIY wireless sensor networks
Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) allow the monitoring of activity or environmental conditions over a large area, from homes to industrial plants, from agriculture fields to forests and glaciers. They can support a variety of applications, from assisted living to natural disaster prevention. WSNs can, however, be challenging to setup and maintain, reducing the potential for real-world adoption. To address this limitation, this paper introduces SensorTune, a novel mobile interface to support non-expert users in iteratively setting up a WSN. SensorTune uses non-speech audio to present to its users information regarding the connectivity of the network they are setting up, allowing them to decide how to extend it. To simplify the interpretation of the data presented, the system adopts the metaphor of tuning a consumer analog radio, a very common and well known operation. A user study was conducted in which 20 subjects setup real multi-hop networks inside a large building using a limited number of wireless nodes. Subjects repeated the task with SensorTune and with a comparable mobile GUI interface. Experimental results show a statistically significant difference in the task completion time and a clear preference of users for the auditory interface.
mobile hci, mobile computing, soni?cation, user study, wireless sensor network, network deployment
978-1-60558-929-9
2317-2326
Costanza, Enrico
0868f119-c42e-4b5f-905f-fe98c1beeded
Panchard, Jacques
0bbb80fe-7646-4bed-9e5e-68d6d70b315c
Zufferey, Guillaume
f5b221e5-70e5-4f58-a660-87c644da45ef
Nembrini, Julien
ce8db580-bd49-4eb2-8ea4-6c0aba0f2448
Freudiger, Julien
29755052-3c2b-4ecb-8356-41a31c832a67
Huang, Jeffrey
c038c3b2-8b11-4c33-b002-ac2274dfdee7
Hubaux, Jean-Pierre
d1c53d04-f331-46a9-8016-282a7e7f38b1
Costanza, Enrico
0868f119-c42e-4b5f-905f-fe98c1beeded
Panchard, Jacques
0bbb80fe-7646-4bed-9e5e-68d6d70b315c
Zufferey, Guillaume
f5b221e5-70e5-4f58-a660-87c644da45ef
Nembrini, Julien
ce8db580-bd49-4eb2-8ea4-6c0aba0f2448
Freudiger, Julien
29755052-3c2b-4ecb-8356-41a31c832a67
Huang, Jeffrey
c038c3b2-8b11-4c33-b002-ac2274dfdee7
Hubaux, Jean-Pierre
d1c53d04-f331-46a9-8016-282a7e7f38b1

Costanza, Enrico, Panchard, Jacques, Zufferey, Guillaume, Nembrini, Julien, Freudiger, Julien, Huang, Jeffrey and Hubaux, Jean-Pierre (2010) SensorTune: a mobile auditory interface for DIY wireless sensor networks. CHI '10. Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, Atlanta, United States. 10 - 15 Apr 2010. pp. 2317-2326 . (doi:10.1145/1753326.1753675).

Record type: Conference or Workshop Item (Paper)

Abstract

Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) allow the monitoring of activity or environmental conditions over a large area, from homes to industrial plants, from agriculture fields to forests and glaciers. They can support a variety of applications, from assisted living to natural disaster prevention. WSNs can, however, be challenging to setup and maintain, reducing the potential for real-world adoption. To address this limitation, this paper introduces SensorTune, a novel mobile interface to support non-expert users in iteratively setting up a WSN. SensorTune uses non-speech audio to present to its users information regarding the connectivity of the network they are setting up, allowing them to decide how to extend it. To simplify the interpretation of the data presented, the system adopts the metaphor of tuning a consumer analog radio, a very common and well known operation. A user study was conducted in which 20 subjects setup real multi-hop networks inside a large building using a limited number of wireless nodes. Subjects repeated the task with SensorTune and with a comparable mobile GUI interface. Experimental results show a statistically significant difference in the task completion time and a clear preference of users for the auditory interface.

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More information

e-pub ahead of print date: April 2010
Venue - Dates: CHI '10. Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, Atlanta, United States, 2010-04-10 - 2010-04-15
Keywords: mobile hci, mobile computing, soni?cation, user study, wireless sensor network, network deployment
Organisations: Agents, Interactions & Complexity

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 270950
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/270950
ISBN: 978-1-60558-929-9
PURE UUID: 97bf0806-e741-4082-9241-2ecc70cdfabc

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Date deposited: 30 Apr 2010 16:10
Last modified: 14 Mar 2024 09:19

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Contributors

Author: Enrico Costanza
Author: Jacques Panchard
Author: Guillaume Zufferey
Author: Julien Nembrini
Author: Julien Freudiger
Author: Jeffrey Huang
Author: Jean-Pierre Hubaux

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