Date of Award

5-2020

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Department

Computer Engineering and Sciences

First Advisor

Marius C. Silaghi

Second Advisor

William Allen

Third Advisor

Veton Kepuska

Fourth Advisor

Philip Bernhard

Abstract

As mobile robot technologies become pervasive in daily life settings and share physical space with regular people, privacy concerns and complications arise. In particular, the independent and enhanced mobility features of mobile robots raise the potential of privacy violations through continuous surveillance, access to privacy-sensitive locations, or opportunities for witnessing embarrassing situations. In this paper, an IoT-based solution concept called PrivateLoc is proposed to empower end-users with the ability to use smartwatches to restrict robot perception and movement at home dynamically according to end-users’ privacy preferences, conditions, or locations. Thus, descriptive research was conducted using structured surveys with 104 participants, 45% females and 55% males, from different age groups for two primary goals. First, investigating whether participants associate their privacy concerns at home with specific locations or situations. Second, estimating the potential attitude toward the usability and effectiveness of the proposed solution in lessening privacy concerns. The results support the statement that most of the participants associate their privacy concerns with situations rather than specific locations. Moreover, the results indicate that the majority of the participants intend to control robot movement to protect their privacy. These results motivate further research related to the proposed system concept, given its potential usefulness and effectiveness in alleviating privacy concerns.

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