Evaluating the use of voice-enabled technologies for ground-truthing activity data

Reliably discerning human activity from sensor data is a nontrivial task in ubiquitous computing, which is central to enabling smart environments. Ground-truth acquisition techniques for such environments can be broadly divided into observational and self-reporting approaches. In this paper we explore one self-reporting approach, using speech-enabled logging to generate ground-truth data. We report the results of a user study in which participants (N=12) used both a smart-watch and a smart-phone app to record their activities of daily living using primarily voice, then answered questionnaires comprising the System Usability Scale (SUS) as well as open ended questions about their experiences. Our findings indicate that even though user satisfaction with the voice-enabled activity logging apps was relatively high, this approach presented significant challenges regarding compliance, effectiveness, and privacy. We discuss the implications of these findings with a view to offering new insights and recommendations for designing systems for ground-truth acquisition ‘in the wild’.