Video Cameras for Lifelogging at Home: Preferred Visualization Modes, Acceptance, and Privacy Perceptions among German and Turkish Participants

ABSTRACT

Increasing numbers of older individuals in the societies pose great challenges for countries affected by the demographic change. The rapid development in the technological sector, on the other hand, enables various applications to make everyday life easier for older and disabled people and to maintain their autonomy for longer. This study examines the acceptance and privacy perceptions of a video-based technology for lifelogging in home environments among German and Turkish users, using a multi-method empirical research approach. Results expose an overall differing acceptance of using lifelogging cameras between German and Turkish participants and suggest that the consideration of the varying culture-bound demands is necessary. The findings of this study support the understanding of requirements for a successful implementation of a video-based assistive technology in private environments to optimally address the needs of the future users, drawing attention to the important cultural influences that affect its acceptance.

Acknowledgments

This work is part of the PAAL-project (“Privacy-Aware and Acceptable Lifelogging services for older and frail people”). The support of the Joint Programme Initiative “More Years, Better Lives” (award number: PAAL_JTC2017), the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (Grant no: 16SV7955), and the Spanish Agencia Estatal de Investigacion (PCIN-2017-114) is gratefully acknowledged.

Disclosure of potential conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Wiktoria Wilkowska

Wiktoria Wilkowska is psychologist working as a senior researcher at the Human-Computer Interaction Center and lecturer at the Department of Communication Science at RWTH Aachen University in Germany. Her research focuses on human factors in the exploration of technology acceptance in the field of medical assistance systems in home environments.

Julia Offermann-van Heek

Julia Offermann-van Heek is working as a research assistant and PhD student at the Human-Computer Interaction Center at RWTH Aachen University in Germany. She holds a master’s degree in communication science combined with basics of mechanical engineering. Her PhD research focuses on the acceptance and perception of assisting technology.

Francisco Florez-Revuelta

Francisco Florez-Revuelta is an Associate Professor at the Department of Computing Technology, University of Alicante, Spain. His research is focused on privacy-aware and acceptable technologies and services to support an active and healthy aging of older and/or disabled people, particularly those technologies using video-based sensors.

Martina Ziefle

Martina Ziefle is professor for Communication Science, head of the Chair for Communication Science and founding member of the Human-Computer Interaction Center at RWTH Aachen University in Germany. Her research focuses on the interface between humans and technology, taking into account different usage contexts and user requirements.