HomeSound

Quick Info

Project Date Jan. 15, 2018 - Present
PIs: Leah Findlater (PI)
Jon E. Froehlich (Co-PI)
Sponsors: NSF
Keywords: accessibility, deaf, deaf and hard of hearing, smarthome

News

Dhruv Jain Receives Microsoft Dissertation Grant

Aug 18, 2021 | Jon

Congratulations to Dhruv Jain who was selected for the prestigious Microsoft Research Dissertation Grant for his work on “Sound Sensing and Feedback Techniques for Deaf and Hard of Hearing Users.” The MSR Dissertationg Grant aims to "increase the pipeline of diverse talent receiving advanced degrees in computing-related fields by providing a research funding opportunity for doctoral students who are underrepresented in the field of computing." Read more on the Allen School news page.

Dhruv Jain Selected for Google-CMD-IT LEAP Alliance Fellowship

Aug 05, 2021 | Jon

Congratulations to Dhruv Jain who was selected for the Google-CMD-IT LEAP Alliance Fellowship. CMD-IT stands for the Center for Minorities and People with Disabilities in IT and is dedicated to "promoting innovation that enriches, enhances, and enables our target communities, such that more equitable and sustainable contributions are possible by all communities."

Dhruv Jain Passes General Exam

Dec 11, 2020 | Jon

It's my pleasure to announce that Dhruv Jain passed his General Exam entitled Sound Sensing & Feedback Techniques for d/Deaf & Hard of Hearing Users: A Dissertation Proposal. His dissertation work was thoughtfully presented, well rehearsed, and even included two live demos (of HomeSound and of SoundWatch). Congrats DJ! Thanks also to the wonderful committee, including co-chair Professor Findlater and fellow committee members Professors Mankoff, Ladner, Wobbrock, and Bigham—literally an all-star cast of HCI+accessibility experts. You can download the slides here or watch the whole thing on YouTube! A few screenshots of the talk (all but the presenter + interpreters had video off):

About

Smarthome sound awareness prototype

One of the three smarthome sound awareness prototypes we explored via a wizard-of-oz study

The home is filled with a rich diversity of sounds from mundane beeps and whirs to dog barks and children’s shouts. In this project, we examine how deaf and hard of hearing (DHH) people think about and relate to sounds in the home, solicit feedback and reactions to initial domestic sound awareness systems, and explore potential concerns. We present findings from two qualitative studies: in Study 1, 12 DHH participants discussed their perceptions of and experiences with sound in the home and provided feedback on initial sound awareness mockups. Informed by Study 1, we designed three tablet-based sound awareness prototypes, which we evaluated with 10 DHH participants using a Wizard-of-Oz approach. Together, our findings suggest a general interest in smarthome-based sound awareness systems particularly for displaying contextually aware, personalized and glanceable visualizations but key concerns arose related to privacy, activity tracking, cognitive overload, and trust.