@inproceedings{b70880a985654d3bbbd7ab5209d49d09,
title = "Sonar-based measurement of user presence and attention",
abstract = "We describe a technique to detect the presence of com- puter users. This technique relies on sonar using hard- ware that already exists on commodity laptop com- puters and other electronic devices. It leverages the fact that human bodies have a different effect on sound waves than air and other objects. We conducted a user study in which 20 volunteers used a computer equipped with our ultrasonic sonar software. Our results show that it is possible to detect the presence or absence of users with near perfect accuracy after only ten seconds of measurement. We find that this technique can differentiate varied user positions and actions, opening the possibility of future use in estimating attention level.",
keywords = "Attention, Presence, Sonar, Ultrasonics, User study",
author = "Stephen Tarzia and Dickz, {Robert P.} and Dinda, {Peter A} and Gokhan Memik",
year = "2009",
doi = "10.1145/1620545.1620559",
language = "English (US)",
isbn = "9781605584317",
series = "ACM International Conference Proceeding Series",
pages = "89--92",
booktitle = "UbiComp'09 - Proceedings of the 11th ACM International Conference on Ubiquitous Computing",
note = "11th ACM International Conference on Ubiquitous Computing, UbiComp'09 ; Conference date: 30-09-2009 Through 03-10-2009",
}