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The Needfinding Machine

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Social Internet of Things

Part of the book series: Internet of Things ((ITTCC))

Abstract

Interactive systems present new opportunities for creating devices that attempt to learn the needs of people. However, inferring from data alone may not always allow for a true understanding of user needs. We suggest a vision of Social IoT where designers interact with users through machines as a new method for needfinding. We present a framework using interactive systems as Needfinding Machines. Acting through a Needfinding Machine, the designer observes behavior, asks questions, and remotely performs the machine in order to understand the user within a situated context. To explore a Needfinding Machine in use, we created DJ Bot, an interactive music agent that allows designers to remotely control music and talk to users about why they are listening. We show three test sessions where designers used DJ Bot with people listening to music while driving. These sessions suggest how Needfinding Machines can be used by designers to help empathize with users, discover potential needs and explore future alternatives for Social Internet of Things products.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    The driver’s car was instrumented the evening before by the research team.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank Kyu Keough, Henriette Cramer, and Jenn Thom for participating as DJ Bot wizards. They would also like to thank Paul Pangaro, Henriette Cramer, Jenn Thom, and Alessandro Soro for providing comments on an early draft of this chapter.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Stanford University, 424 Panama Mall, Building 560, Stanford, CA, 94305, USA

    Nikolas Martelaro

  2. Cornell Tech, 2 West Loop Rd, New York, NY, 10044, USA

    Wendy Ju

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  1. Queensland University of Technology (QUT), Brisbane, Queensland, Australia

    Alessandro Soro

  2. Queensland University of Technology (QUT), Brisbane, Queensland, Australia

    Margot Brereton

  3. Queensland University of Technology (QUT), Brisbane, Queensland, Australia

    Paul Roe

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Martelaro, N., Ju, W. (2019). The Needfinding Machine. In: Soro, A., Brereton, M., Roe, P. (eds) Social Internet of Things. Internet of Things. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-94659-7_4

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