Person:
Grinter, Rebecca E.

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Publication Search Results

Now showing 1 - 8 of 8
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    NETS-NDB: Human-centered networking in the home
    (Georgia Institute of Technology, 2010-08) Edwards, Warren Keith ; Grinter, Rebecca E. ; Yang, Jeonghwa
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    Domestic robot ecology - an initial framework to unpack long-term acceptance of robots at home
    (Georgia Institute of Technology, 2010) Sung, Ja-Young ; Grinter, Rebecca E. ; Christensen, Henrik I.
    It has been recognized that long-term effects exist in the interaction with robotic technologies. Despite this recognition, we still know little about how the temporal effects are associated with domestic robots. To bridge this gap, we undertook a long-term field study. We distributed Roomba vacuuming robots to 30 households, and observed the use over six months. During this study, which spans over 149 home visits, we identified how householders accepted robots as a part of the households via four temporal stages of pre-adoption, adoption, adaptation, and use/retention. With these findings, we took the first step toward establishing a framework, Domestic Robot Ecology (DRE). It shows a holistic view on the relationships that robots shape in the home. Further, it articulates how those relationships change over time. We suggest that DRE can become a useful tool to help design toward long-term acceptance of robotic technologies in the home.
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    Sketching the future: Assessing user needs for domestic robots
    (Georgia Institute of Technology, 2009-09) Sung, Ja-Young ; Grinter, Rebecca E. ; Christensen, Henrik I.
    In this paper, we discuss a user-centered vision of future domestic robots based on 48 householders' depiction of their ideal home robots. Through users' creative responses, we aim to identify domestic tasks desired for robotic assistance, and hence guide the design effort to better reflect user needs. Our study results show that householders want domestic robots for tasks including Time-consuming Drudgeries, House-sitting, and Personal Attendance. Further, we present three design lessons we learned to increase householders' acceptance of these robots. The design of domestic robots needs to provide a certain amount of human control, be compatible with the user's domestic environment, and take gender into consideration.
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    Pimp my Roomba: designing for personalization
    (Georgia Institute of Technology, 2009-04) Sung, Ja-Young ; Grinter, Rebecca E. ; Christensen, Henrik I.
    We present a study of how householders personalize their domestic vacuuming robot, iRobot's Roomba". In particular, we build on Blom and Monk's [3] theory of personalization that argues that personalization does not only occur naturally but can also be induced by design choices. In this study, we created a personalization toolkit, which allowed people to customize their Roomba's appearance and distributed it to 15 households. Our observations of these households provide empirical support that personalization can facilitate positive experiences with a Roomba, and having materials to hand can increase the odds of customization. We conclude by discussing design implications for personalization.
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    Robots in the Wild: Understanding Long-term Use
    (Georgia Institute of Technology, 2009-03) Sung, Ja-Young ; Christensen, Henrik I. ; Grinter, Rebecca E.
    It has long been recognized that novelty effects exist in the interaction with technologies. Despite this recognition, we still know little about the novelty effects associated with domestic robotic appliances and more importantly, what occurs after the novelty wears off. To address this gap, we undertook a longitudinal field study with 30 households to which we gave Roomba vacuuming robots and then observed use over six months. During this study, which spans over 149 home visits, we encountered methodological challenges in understanding households' usage patterns. In this paper we report on our longitudinal research, focusing particularly on the methods that we used 1) to understand human-robot interaction over time despite the constraints of privacy and temporality in the home, and 2) to uncover information when routines became less conscious to the participants themselves.
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    Housewives or technophiles?: understanding domestic robot owners
    (Georgia Institute of Technology, 2008-03) Sung, Ja-Young ; Grinter, Rebecca E. ; Christensen, Henrik I. ; Guo, Lan
    Despite the growing body of Human-Robot Interaction (HRI) research focused on domestic robots, surprisingly little is known about the demographic profile of robot owners and their influence on usage patterns. In this paper, we present the results of a survey of 379 iRobot's Roombao wners, that identified their demographic and usage trends. The outcome of the survey suggests that Roomba users are equally likely to be men or women, and they tend to be younger with high levels of education and technical backgrounds. Their adoption and use patterns illustrate the important role that gift exchange plays in adoption, and how the robot changes cleaning routines and creates non-cleaning activities. More generally, we argue that domestic robot adoption is growing, and suggest some of the factors that lead to a positive experience.
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    My roomba is rambo: Intimate home appliances
    (Georgia Institute of Technology, 2007-09) Sung, Ja-Young ; Guo, Lan ; Grinter, Rebecca E. ; Christensen, Henrik I.
    Robots have entered our domestic lives, but yet, little is known about their impact on the home. This paper takes steps towards addressing this omission, by reporting results from an empirical study of iRobot’s Roomba™, a vacuuming robot. Our findings suggest that, by developing intimacy to the robot, our participants were able to derive increased pleasure from cleaning, and expended effort to fit Roomba into their homes, and shared it with others. These findings lead us to propose four design implications that we argue could increase people’s enthusiasm for smart home technologies.
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    Electronic Communication by Deaf Teenagers
    (Georgia Institute of Technology, 2005) Henderson, Valerie ; Grinter, Rebecca E. ; Starner, Thad
    We present a qualitative, exploratory study to examine the space of electronic based communication (e.g. instant messaging, short message service, email) by Deaf teenagers in the greater Atlanta metro area. We answer the basic questions of who, what, where, when, and how to understand Deaf teenage use of electronic, mobile communication technologies. Our findings reveal that both Deaf and hearing teens share similar communication goals such as communicating quickly, effectively, and with a variety of people. Distinctions between the two populations emerge from language differences. The teenagers perspectives allow us to view electronic communication not from a technologist's point of view, but from the use-centric view of teenagers who are indifferent to the underlying infrastructure supporting this communication. This study suggests several unique features of the Deaf teens' communication as well as further research questions and directions for study.