Evaluating the Social Acceptability of Voice Based Smartwatch Search

• Published in: Information Retrieval Technology Vol. 9994; pp. 267 - 278
• Main Authors: Efthymiou, Christos, Halvey, Martin
• Format: Book Chapter
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland Springer International Publishing AG 2016; Springer International Publishing
• Series: Lecture Notes in Computer Science
• Subjects: Acceptability; Artificial intelligence; Information need; Information retrieval; Search; Smartwatch; Voice
• ISBN: 9783319480503; 3319480502
• ISSN: 0302-9743; 1611-3349
• DOI: 10.1007/978-3-319-48051-0_20

There has been a recent increase in the number of wearable (e.g. smartwatch, interactive glasses, etc.) devices available. Coupled with this there has been a surge in the number of searches that occur on mobile devices. Given these trends it is inevitable that search will become a part of wearable interaction. Given the form factor and display capabilities of wearables this will probably require a different type of search interaction to what is currently used in mobile search. This paper presents the results of a user study focusing on users’ perceptions of the use of smartwatches for search. We pay particular attention to social acceptability of different search scenarios, focussing on input method, device form and information need. Our findings indicate that audience and location heavily influence whether people will perform a voice based search. The results will help search system developers to support search on smartwatches.