Explanation of data processing and security and creation of an explanatory video as part of the research project “Smart Companion 2” – a pilot study

Aim and Research Question(s)

The aim was to familiarize the test persons with the data processing and data security of Smart Companion, to increase their knowledge of these topics and thus increase their acceptance of Smart Companion. The main research questions explored the Smart Companion technology acceptance and the level of knowledge after watching explanatory videos about Smart Companion data processing and security among ten subjects aged 65+.

Background

Many users lack knowledge about data security and are unsure about how their data is collected and processed, and whether their data is secure at all, leading to lower acceptance of smart devices [1]. Nevertheless, smart devices have potential benefits for older people living alone. Some smart devices, such as the Smart Companion, can detect falls and call for help [2].

Methods

Following a literature review and an expert interview, three explanatory videos about the data processing and security of Smart Companion and two questionnaires were developed. Ten participants over the age of 65 completed the pre-questionnaire, watched the videos, and completed the post-questionnaire. The questionnaires measured the increases in knowledge and changes in acceptance of the Smart Companion after the videos.                  Figure 1: Screenshot of an explanatory video

Results and Discussion

The Smart Companion's technology acceptance score increased from 4.3 to 5.13 (a plus of 0.83) after watching the videos. The Wilcoxon signed-rank test showed that the technology acceptance of Smart Companion improved for ten test subjects after watching the explanatory videos, and the effect size was high with d = 0.85. In addition, the participants had an average knowledge of Smart Companion's data processing and security of 80% after watching the videos. However, there are some limitations to this work which need to be considered. Figure 2: Change in Smart Companion technology acceptance

Conclusion

Based on the results of this pilot study, it can be said that easy-to-understand explanatory videos about data security and processing are a good way to increase knowledge and technology acceptance of Smart Companion.

References

[1] B. Chen, Y. Liu, S. Zhang, J. Chen, und Z. Han, „A Survey on Smart Home Privacy Data Protection Technology“, in 2021 IEEE Sixth International Conference on Data Science in Cyberspace (DSC), Okt. 2021, S. 583–590. doi: 10.1109/DSC53577.2021.00092. [2] Smart Companion Project Team, „Smart Companion: Active AI Assistant to Support Autonomous Living“. 2021. [Online]. Available: https://research.fhstp.ac.at/content/download/167933/file/ Whitepaper.pdf