I Can't Be Myself

Abstract

Wearable sensors can provide reliable, automated measures of health behaviors in free-living populations. However, validation of these measures is impossible without observable confirmation of behaviors. Participants have expressed discomfort during the use of ego-centric wearable cameras with first-person view. We argue that mounting the camera on different body locations with a different lens orientation, gives a device recording affordance that has the effect of reducing surveillance and social discomfort compared to ego-centric cameras. We call these types of cameras "activity-oriented" because they are designed to capture a particular activity, rather than the field of view of the wearer. We conducted an experiment of three camera designs with 24 participants, collecting qualitative data on participants' experience while wearing these devices in the wild. We provide a model explaining factors that lead to an increase in social presence and social stigma, which, therefore, create social and surveillance discomfort for the wearer. Wearers' attempts to reduce this discomfort by modifying their behavior or abandoning the device threatens the validity of observations of authentic behaviors. We discuss design implications and provide recommendations to help reduce social presence and stigma in order to improve the validity of observations with cameras in the wild.