SensorTune: a mobile auditory interface for DIY wireless sensor networks

Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) allow the monitoring of activity or environmental conditions over a large area, from homes to industrial plants, from agriculture fields to forests and glaciers. They can support a variety of applications, from assisted living to natural disaster prevention. WSNs can, however, be challenging to setup and maintain, reducing the potential for real-world adoption. To address this limitation, this paper introduces SensorTune, a novel mobile interface to support non-expert users in iteratively setting up a WSN. SensorTune uses non-speech audio to present to its users information regarding the connectivity of the network they are setting up, allowing them to decide how to extend it. To simplify the interpretation of the data presented, the system adopts the metaphor of tuning a consumer analog radio, a very common and well known operation. SensorTune represents the first attempt to apply mobile sonification to the domain of WSNs. A user study was conducted...

• Type: Conference
• Year: 2010
• Where: CHI
• Authors: Enrico Costanza, Jacques Panchard, Guillaume Zufferey, Julien Nembrini, Julien Freudiger, Jeffrey Huang, Jean-Pierre Hubaux
• Keywords: CHI 2010, Comparable Mobile Gui, Human Computer Interaction, User Study, Wireless Sensor Network