Invited talk at 国立情報学研究所 (National Institute of Informatics) in 東京 (Tokyo, Japan) about user needs in wearable computing

I gave a talk about user needs in wearable computing at 国立情報学研究所 (National Institute of Informatics) in 東京 (Tokyo, Japan) on 04 October 2007 during the 10th Horizons for Information Societies seminar, which was dedicated to ubiquitous computing.

My 45-minutes talk entitled "Needs in Wearable Computing: a User-centred Approach" was a subset of the talk I gave at 연세대학교 (Yonsei university) in 서울 (Seoul, South Korea) on 07 September 2007, which was about the general public's needs in ubiquitous computing.

Several questions from attendees dealt with the universality and completeness of Maslow's theories as a base for my work. Maslow's hierarchical organization of basic needs (physhiology, safety, belonging, self-esteem, and self-actualisation) has been investigated in several cultures, which hinted at a certain universality of his theories. However, people's priorities may not match his model, for example when a person's salient needs are related to belongingness whereas safety needs have not yet been gratified, or when a person gives her life willingly due to value choices (e.g. martyrdom). In the first case, the person is recognized as mentally ill, and in the second case as somebody potentially exceptional. Finally, Maslow did not consider in details what he called unmotivated needs, related to e.g. aesthetics and entertainment. For this, complementary models are required.

Finally, one attendee asked about the industrial impact of my findings. I explained that so far I had taken few successful contacts with Japanese researchers and industrials. However, my worked seemed useful to some Korean researchers interested in the creation of smart clothes, who may select the services to create and their design based on my findings.

One remark about my presentation was that I had not shown clearly that my conclusions particularly apply to wearables. One solution is to make similar analyses applied to intelligent environments, and highlight the differences, which are bound to exist because (1) wearables are used by only one user, (2) wearables can potentially acquire physiological information through direct contact with the body, (3) wearables have limited resources, notably in energy.

Invited talk at 연세대학교 (Yonsei university) in 서울 (Seoul, South Korea) about the general public's needs in ubiquitous computing

Source: <http://horizons.free.fr/seikatsu/eng/events/2007-09-07_kr-seoul_yonsei-textile-lab.htm>

I was invited by 조 길수 (CHO Gilsoo), director of the 스마트의류 기술개발연구소 (smartwear research center), to give a talk about the general public's needs in ubiquitous computing at 연세대학교 (Yonsei university) in 서울 (Seoul, South Korea) on 7 September 2007. I strolled in the campus of the university for the first time, discussed with specialists in smart clothing, and saw prototypes.

I appreciated very much the director's warm welcome and our discussions about 연세대학교 (Yonsei university), the Korean industry, culture and education, the relationships with Japan, and the state of research in smart clothing. 생활과학대학 (The college of Human Ecology), where she is a professor, is quite exciting, with sections in clothing & textiles, food & nutrition, housing & interior design, child & family studies, and human environment & design. This academic setting is very attractive for its strong link with quality of life and human basic needs.

My 1-hour entitled "General Public's Needs in Ubiquitous Computing: Design Based on Psychology, Culture and Age" was based on former works about the perception of smart clothes by the general public (Publication #6, Publication #8), on recent works about the specificities for older adults (Publication #12), and on unpublished works about the specificities for young people (publication #16 and publication #17). Due to a trend for the integration of intelligence in clothes and houses, students and researchers in fashion, interior design, textile, and psychology attended the presentation. They asked questions about the design of the questionnaires used to evaluate the general public's perception of technology, the cause of the rejection of artificial intelligence to control smart clothes in France and Japan, and the transfer of findings about wearable computers to intelligent environments.

Finally, a small group of Koreans working on smart clothes presented the group's activities, answered my questions, and showed me prototypes of smart clothes while explaining the techniques used and challenges. Interesting elements included textile keypads, and textile connectors. The keypads were used on sleeves of small tops for children, and the textile connectors notably transmitted data from sensors detecting ultraviolet light, embedded in a ski suit. The garments had been featured at the fashion show "Smart Clothing 2007" held in 서울 (Seoul) the 11 May 2007.

Globally, the visit was very satisfactory and enriching.