Decentralized Ubiquitous Computing in Everyday Environments

• Applicant: Professor Dr. Florian Echtler
• Subject Area: Automation, Mechatronics, Control Systems, Intelligent Technical Systems, Robotics ; Image and Language Processing, Computer Graphics and Visualisation, Human Computer Interaction, Ubiquitous and Wearable Computing
• Term: from 2018 to 2024
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 406053132

• Final Report Year: 2025

Final Report Abstract

In this research project, we have explored how centralization of digital services and infrastructure can influence our privacy and digital self-determination, particularly related to interaction with smartphones as well as smart homes, and how tangible design objects can help users with improving their privacy awareness and practices. We present a variety of interaction methods, hard- and software toolkits, and user-focused studies on the perception of privacy, which are all united by the common concept of decentralization: how can we create state-of-the-art ubiquitous computing systems, such as a smart home or a tangible interaction environment, without relying on centralized and proprietary services and tools? Our research results are available as academic publications, but also in the form of multiple opensource projects, which are designed to enable future researchers and practitioners to easily build on our work.

Link to the final report

https://zenodo.org/records/16870925

Publications

• DesPat: Smartphone-Based Object Detection for Citizen Science and Urban Surveys. i-com, 20(2), 125-139.
  Getschmann, Christopher & Echtler, Florian
  
• Exploring Epileptic Seizure Detection with Commercial Smartwatches. 2021 IEEE International Conference on Pervasive Computing and Communications Workshops and other Affiliated Events (PerCom Workshops), 636-641. IEEE.
  Tobollik, Theresa; Shalawadi, Sujay; Getschmann, Christopher & Echtler, Florian
  
• Rainmaker: A Tangible Work-Companion for the Personal Office Space. Proceedings of the 23rd International Conference on Mobile Human-Computer Interaction, 1-13. ACM.
  Shalawadi, Sujay; Alnayef, Anas; van Berkel, Niels; Kjeldskov, Jesper & Echtler, Florian
  
• Seedmarkers: Embeddable Markers for Physical Objects. Proceedings of the Fifteenth International Conference on Tangible, Embedded, and Embodied Interaction, 1-11. ACM.
  Getschmann, Christopher & Echtler, Florian
  
• TempoWatch: a Wearable Music Control Interface for Dance Instructors. Proceedings of the Fifteenth International Conference on Tangible, Embedded, and Embodied Interaction, 1-6. ACM.
  Roth, Josef; Ehlers, Jan; Getschmann, Christopher & Echtler, Florian
  
• Frankie: Exploring how Self-Tracking Technologies can go from Data-Centred to Human-Centred. Proceedings of the 21st International Conference on Mobile and Ubiquitous Multimedia, 243-250. ACM.
  Van Koningsbruggen, Rosa; Shalawadi, Sujay; Hornecker, Eva & Echtler, Florian
  
• HeadsUp: Mobile Collision Warnings through Ultrasound Doppler Sensing. Proceedings of the 21st International Conference on Mobile and Ubiquitous Multimedia, 200-207. ACM.
  Yaghoubisharif, Negin; Getschmann, Christopher & Echtler, Florian
  
• MirrorForge: Rapid Prototyping of Complex Mirrors for Camera and Projector Systems. Sixteenth International Conference on Tangible, Embedded, and Embodied Interaction, 1-7. ACM.
  Getschmann, Christopher; Mthunzi, Everett Mondliwethu & Echtler, Florian
  
• A Longitudinal Analysis of Real-World Self-report Data. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, 611-632. Springer Nature Switzerland.
  van Berkel, Niels; Shalawadi, Sujay; Evans, Madeleine R.; Visuri, Aku & Hosio, Simo
  
• Demonstrating SurfaceCast: Ubiquitous, Cross-Device Surface Sharing. Companion Proceedings of the 2023 Conference on Interactive Surfaces and Spaces, 65-68. ACM.
  Echtler, Florian; Maierhöfer, Vitus; Hansen, Nicolai Brodersen & Wimmer, Raphael
  
• SurfaceCast: Ubiquitous, Cross-Device Surface Sharing. Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction, 7(ISS), 286-308.
  Echtler, Florian; Maierhöfer, Vitus; Hansen, Nicolai Brodersen & Wimmer, Raphael
  
• TouchBoard: Reimagining the Ergonomic Keyboard. Center for Open Science.
  Brams, Anton; Getschmann, Christopher; Hornecker, Eva & Echtler, Florian
  
• Dr. Convenience Love or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love my Voice Assistant✱. Nordic Conference on Human-Computer Interaction, 1-14. ACM.
  Shalawadi, Sujay; Echtler, Florian & Raptis, Dimitrios
  
• From Reflection to Action: Enhancing Workplace Well-Being Through Digital Solutions. Interacting with Computers, 37(3), 133-146.
  van Berkel, Niels; Visuri, Aku; Shalawadi, Sujay; Evans, Madeleine R.; Tag, Benjamin & Hosio, Simo
  
• LensLeech: On-Lens Interaction for Arbitrary Camera Devices. Proceedings of the Eighteenth International Conference on Tangible, Embedded, and Embodied Interaction, 1-10. ACM.
  Getschmann, Christopher & Echtler, Florian
  
• Manual, Hybrid, and Automatic Privacy Covers for Smart Home Cameras. Designing Interactive Systems Conference, 3453-3470. ACM.
  Shalawadi, Sujay; Getschmann, Christopher; van Berkel, Niels & Echtler, Florian