The underlying factors of the perceived usefulness of using smart wearable devices for disaster applications

Smart wearable devices offer much potential to assist citizens in disasters. To the general public, however, using these devices for disaster applications is still a novel concept. In disasters, most people are reluctant to rely on unfamiliar technologies. Thus, for these devices to become truly useful in disasters, it is important to understand factors that affect their acceptance by the public. Previous studies show that perceived usefulness is a clear antecedent of people’s acceptance of smart wearable devices. However, the underlying factors that affect perceived usefulness itself are not clearly known. Thus, the aim of this study is to fill this gap, and by doing so, to derive some practical implications for solution developers and governments.This study used structural equation modelling to analyse survey data collected from 647 respondents in Japan. We found that the respondents’ perceived usefulness of the current applications of smart wearable devices was a strong predictor of their perceived usefulness of using these devices for disaster applications. Although indirect factors such as the ownership of ICT gadgets and the usage of social media also had some influences, most of their effects were mediated through increasing the respondents’ perceived usefulness of the current applications. In other words, through appreciating the functions of the current applications of smart wearable devices, people can visualise the usefulness of these devices in disaster situations. That being said, we found that in parallel, people also had concerns on the privacy issues of these devices. These findings shed light on the promotion and development of this fast growing technology for disaster applications.     

User acceptance of smart wearable devices: An expectation-confirmation model approach

Smart wearable devices have become one of the most popular interactive items in the “smart” era that prioritizes “mobility.” There is significant scholarly interest in not only promoting the successful diffusion of this technology but also providing improved user experience to users of these devices. In line with this trend, this study explores users’ perceptions of smart wearable devices and introduces a comprehensive research model that employs factors that are primarily extracted using the expectation-confirmation, technology acceptance, and flow models. The results derived using both confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling methods (N = 1,380) indicate that users’ intentions to use smart wearable devices are determined by five influential factors: satisfaction, enjoyment, usefulness, flow state, and cost. Both users’ confirmation and service and system quality play notable determinative roles in the research model. Implications and suggestions are presented considering the results.     

User centric three‐factor authentication protocol for cloud‐assisted wearable devices

Wearable devices, which provide the services of collecting personal data, monitoring health conditions, and so on, are widely used in many fields, ranging from sports to healthcare. Although wearable devices bring convenience to people's lives, they bring about significant security concerns, such as personal privacy disclosure and unauthorized access to wearable devices. To ensure the privacy and security of the sensitive data, it is critical to design an efficient authentication protocol suitable for wearable devices. Recently, Das et al proposed a lightweight authentication protocol, which achieves secure communication between the wearable device and the mobile terminal. However, we find that their protocol is vulnerable to offline password guessing attack and desynchronization attack. Therefore, we put forward a user centric three‐factor authentication scheme for wearable devices assisted by cloud server. Informal security analysis and formal analysis using ProVerif is executed to demonstrate that our protocol not only remedies the flaws of the protocol of Das et al but also meets desired security properties. Comparison with related schemes shows that our protocol satisfies security and usability simultaneously.     

Acceptance of real-time location-based advertising service: a conceptual examination

The rapid growth of mobile phone value-added services has increasingly attracted marketing attention. The real-time location-based advertising service (RTLBAS) being developed by VIETMAP, a leading mapping company in Vietnam, employs positioning technology to locate a user and provide advertising information. An empirical case study in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, was conducted to examine the acceptance of RTLBAS. Data were collected by 12 VIETMAP salespersons who conducted a questionnaire-based interview of the subjects. The sample consisted of 315 respondents. Data analysis revealed three important findings. First, perceived compatibility is the main concern, and will make mobile phone users more likely to use RTLBAS. Customers become increasingly function-sensitive and function-compatible as the number of service types increases. Second, mobile phone users are uncertain about adopting VIETMAP's RTLBAS, preferring to try it first even if they think it is useful. Finally, a privacy policy should be developed as a concern of the social relevance of RTLBAS development. Managerial implications were also addressed.     

Will smartwatches last? factors contributing to intention to keep using smart wearable technology

This study aims to deepen our understanding of the underlying factors affecting the intention to continue using increasingly popular wearable technology. A new theoretical model is developed and validated to extend traditional technology acceptance theories by identifying several value drivers of the continuous intention and actual usage of wearable devices. Hypotheses were tested using partial least squares path modeling on data collected from 383 actual smartwatch users. The results provide wearable device manufacturers with practical guidance for optimizing competition strategies. They also offer policy-making insights for practitioners to promote better wearable devices on the market, especially during the early stages of adoption.     

Traces of mobility: Examining location disclosure on social networks with mobile location tagging

The prevailing adoption of mobile devices has facilitated individuals’ engagement with location tagging; thus, location-based information sharing, which allows geolocation specificity and interaction on the Internet platforms, has become a popular activity in the space of social media. This spatiotemporal information provides a great potential opportunity for marketers as photos or videos shared among friends on social networking sites can be viewed as a type of word-of-mouth that may increase brand awareness and attract more users. Thus, understanding the underlying factors driving location tagging intentions provides significant value for practitioners. However, despite its importance, our understanding of this topic is limited. This research draws from social exchange theory and the theory of impression management to exemplify the underlying factors driving individuals to engage in photo or video sharing with location tagging on social media. Using an online survey, we recruited 402 users. We find that location tagging intention is driven by a facilitating route involving social benefits and functional benefits and an impeding route involving perceived risk related to privacy concerns. Our findings provide important academic and managerial implications.     

A wearable point-of-care system for home use that incorporates plug-and-play and wireless standards.

A point-of-care system for continuous health monitoring should be wearable, easy to use, and affordable to promote patient independence and facilitate acceptance of new home healthcare technology. Reconfigurability, interoperability, and scalability are important. Standardization supports these requirements, and encourages an open market where lower product prices result from vendor competition. This paper first discusses candidate standards for wireless communication, plug-and-play device interoperability, and medical information exchange in point-of-care systems. It then addresses the design and implementation of a wearable, plug-and-play system for home care which adopts the IEEE 1073 Medical Information Bus (MIB) standards, and uses Bluetooth as the wireless communication protocol. This standards-based system maximizes user mobility by incorporating a three-level architecture populated by base stations, wearable data loggers, and wearable sensors. Design issues include the implementation of the MIB standards on microcontroller-driven embedded devices, low power consumption, wireless data exchange, and data storage and transmission in a reconfigurable body-area network.     

移动电子支付方式消费者使用意愿探析

互联网的发展,移动商务的爆发式增长使消费者对移动电子支付产生了越来越强的依赖.随着新的市场参与者的加入,移动电子支付领域的竞争也越来越激烈.因此,探究消费者使用移动电子支付的影响因素显得犹为重要.基于技术接受模型(Technology Acceptance Model,ATM)和计划行为理论(Theory of Planned Behavior,TPB)影响消费者使用移动电子支付的因素有:感知有用性,感知易用性,兼容性,个人主观规范,感知风险和感知信任.通过实证调研得出如下结论:感知有用性,感知易用性,兼容性,个人主观规范和感知信任对消费者使用移动电子支付有正向影响;感知风险对消费者使用移动电子支付有负向影响.     

On the role of informational privacy in connected vehicles: A privacy-aware acceptance modelling approach for connected vehicular services

Modern cars are becoming increasingly connected. While connectivity enhances the car’s functional portfolio, it fosters the relevance of information privacy in the private vehicle. This research paper sets out to elucidate the role of data disclosure in the acceptance of connected services in the car. Based on Davis’ Technology Acceptance Model, we postulate an acceptance model which accounts for informational privacy in the connected car. In a high-fidelity driving simulator study, 116 participants interacted with a connected parking service and subsequently responded to an acceptance questionnaire. Structural equation modelling revealed a significant influence of privacy-related factors on attitude towards using the system, which in turn directly influences usage intention. The results underscore the relevance of informational privacy for the acceptance of connected vehicular services.     

Understanding behavioural intention to use information technology: Insights from humanitarian practitioners

The contemporary research in the area of individual technology adoption mainly focuses on commercial supply chains. However, limited research focuses on the context of humanitarian supply chains. This calls to develop structural models that can scrutinize the technology adoption behaviour of the users in the humanitarian context. Therefore, this study is an attempt to empirically examine the technology adoption behaviour of humanitarian organizations. It extends the unified theory of the acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT) model by integrating personal innovativeness and trust in technology with the behavioural intention to adopt technology in the humanitarian context. Data from 192 humanitarian practitioners, who have experienced a large number of disasters, is utilized to empirically validate the conceptual model. The structural equation modelling results show that - out of four constructs namely performance expectancy, effort expectancy, social influence and facilitating conditions under UTAUT - performance expectancy and effort expectancy significantly affect the IT adoption. Contrary to expectations, trust and personal innovation do not affect the behavioural intention. Also, personal innovation does not moderate the relationship between performance expectancy and effort expectancy. This underlines the need to foster a learning culture within these organizations. The efforts made by involved humanitarian organizations may be directed towards improving the level of education, skills and facilitating them with other resources such as appropriate IT and data mining training, so that the technology adoption becomes an integral part of their daily activities. Finally, detailed implications for humanitarian organizations are discussed.     

Home IoT resistance: Extended privacy and vulnerability perspective

Home Internet of Things (IoT) services are expected to augment the efficiency and comfort of users’ daily lives; however, this expectation is eclipsed by concerns regarding privacy and vulnerability. While these concerns critically impact the acceptance of IoT services for the home, they have been discussed primarily from a traditional point of view; academic discussions of privacy and vulnerability in the current environment are lacking. This study extends existing privacy and vulnerability theories to demonstrate the importance of physical privacy and user vulnerability protections in home IoT environments. To validate the proposed research model, an empirical analysis was conducted on 265 samples with a partial least squares structural equation modeling technique. The differences in vulnerability factors, along with privacy concerns and resistance to home IoT services, were also compared by gender, experience, and type of housing. Results show that user vulnerability has the strongest impact on home IoT privacy concerns and resistance to home IoT environments. Additionally, this study found that personal factors appear differently across vulnerabilities, privacy concerns, and home IoT resistance. This study extends the traditional concepts of privacy and vulnerability to the home IoT environment.     

Social acceptance of location-based mobile government services for emergency management

Location-based services deployed by governments can be used to assist people manage emergencies via their mobile handsets. Research delineating the acceptance of public services in the domain of emergency management has been scantly investigated in information systems. The main aim of this study is to assess the viability of location-based mobile emergency services by: (i) exploring the issues related to location-based services and their nationwide utilisation for emergency management; (ii) investigating the attitudinal and behavioural implications of the services; and (iii) examining the social acceptance or rejection of the services and identify the determinants of this acceptance or rejection. The results reveal that both attitude and perceived usefulness demonstrate a good prediction power of behavioural intention. Although perceived ease of use was found not to be a predictor of attitude, the results affirm its influence on perceived usefulness. The results also demonstrate the role of trust as the most influential determinant of individual perception of the usefulness of the services. Further, the results indicate that only the collection of personal location information, as a perceived privacy concern, had a significant negative impact on trust. Implications and future research are also discussed.     

A field study of the adoption of software process innovations byinformation systems professionals

With spiraling demand for applications software, the adoption of software development process innovations by systems developers represents a problem of considerable magnitude confronting information systems managers. We report the results of a study focused on the issue of facilitating the movement of experienced COBOL programmers to become users of the C programming language. The study, conducted at a major financial services firm, is based upon a behavioral model of the acceptance of innovations that derives its foundations from research in social psychology, information technology acceptance, and innovation adoption. The model posits a relationship between beliefs about a target new technology and the subsequent adoption of the technology. Beliefs, in turn, are hypothesized to be influenced by a variety of external factors such as training and individual characteristics. Results suggest that certain beliefs do play a central role in determining acceptance behavior. Results also point to external factors such as organizational tenure, prior technical knowledge, training experiences, and perceived job insecurity that have significant effects on these beliefs. Theoretical and practical implications that follow are discussed     

Effectiveness of web-based social sensing in health information dissemination—A review

Social media has moved ahead of just being a tool for adolescent users to share their personal lives (messages, pictures) but has also been taken up by healthcare stakeholders to disseminate health information worldwide. The role of social media in healthcare industry and impact of patient engagement has moved to centered-stage and is continuously propelled by patient demand, mobile technology and mounting influence of the native digital generation. The pace with which the social activity is growing, it is important to foresee what impact these web-based platforms are having on the deliverance and outcome of healthcare interventions. This survey looks at how far social media has been prove to be effective in disseminating health information and to what extent ontological advancing approaches have been helpful in extracting relevant knowledge from sheer amount of healthcare data.     

Wearable healthcare: Lessons from the past and a peek into the future

The market for wearable healthcare devices is one of the fastest growing markets of this decade. In this paper, we conduct a thorough review of the peer-reviewed and grey literatures on wearable healthcare. Then, using SWOT analysis, we examine the market’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and some of the major threats it faces. Our structured examination revealed that the primary areas of innovation in wearable healthcare include infant safety and care, elderly care, chronic disease management, military support, sports medicine, and preventive medicine. We also found that several hurdles stand in the way of the wearable market’s success; these include threats to data security and privacy, regulatory requirements, cost of system operation and management, and subpar adoption rates. Overall, our analysis revealed that significant effort is needed to address the identified technological, societal, and governmental barriers that are preventing the wearable healthcare market from reaching its full potential. Incentives by the Federal government that fuel innovation and encourage adoption by healthcare professionals and patients is deemed necessary for the wearable market’s continued growth.     

Online Privacy Concerns and Privacy Management: A Meta-Analytical Review

This meta-analysis investigates privacy concerns and literacy as predictors of use of online services and social network sites (SNSs), sharing information, and adoption of privacy protective measures. A total of 166 studies from 34 countries (n = 75,269) were included in the analysis. In line with the premise of privacy paradox, privacy concerns did not predict SNS use. However, users concerned about privacy were less likely to use online services and share information and were more likely to utilize privacy protective measures. Except for information sharing, the relationships were comparable for intentions and behavior. Analyses also confirm the role that privacy literacy plays in enhancing use of privacy protective measures. The findings can be generalized across gender, cultural orientation, and national legal systems.     

Beyond the privacy paradox: The moderating effect of online privacy concerns on online service use behavior

In the digital information era, dealing with privacy issues is problematic in related research since online activities have become an inevitable trend. Following the privacy paradox, which occurs when online services are increasingly accepted or used despite raising the level of privacy concerns of individuals, there is no need to alleviate individual privacy concerns regarding online services. Accordingly, this study aims to empirically analyze the effect of online privacy concerns, when interacting with individual innovativeness, on individual online service use behavior. For the empirical analysis, a Heckman two-step analysis is performed using South Korean data from the 2019 Korea Media Panel Survey conducted by the Korea Information Society Development Institute. The results provide evidence in contradiction of the privacy paradox. Specifically, the main findings of this study are as follows. First, use of online services and privacy concerns are not a contradictory phenomenon both in principle and behavior but can act as a negative influence or constraint. Second, individuals with high levels of innovativeness actively use online services owing to differences in their acceptance and use of innovation. Third, as online activities become more common, privacy concerns are likely to affect the level of online service use by interacting with other personality traits. As a result, privacy concerns are more likely to act as an influencing variable that moderates the degree or intensity of an individual's use of an online service rather than an independent variable for the use of an online service. The impact of privacy concerns of individuals on the use of online services identified in this study suggests there is a need for an adequate governing mechanism for privacy protection to realize service provision through e-government.     

Wearable Biosensors for Body Computing

The challenges of growing and aging populations combined with limited clinical resources have created huge demand for wearable and portable healthcare devices. Research advances in wearable biosensors have made it easier to achieve reliable noninvasive monitoring of health and body status. In this review, recent progress in the development of body computing systems for personalized healthcare is presented, with key considerations and case studies. Critical form factors for wearable sensors, their materials, structures, power sources, modes of data communication, and the types of information they can extract from the body are summarized. Statistically meaningful data analysis considerations, including using cohort and longitudinal correlation studies, are reviewed to understand how raw sensor signals can provide actionable information on the state of the body. This informs discussions on how collected sensor data can be used for personalized and even preventative care, such as by guiding closed-loop medical interventions. Finally, outstanding challenges for making wearable sensor systems reliable, practical, and ubiquitous are considered in order to disrupt traditional medical paradigms with personalized and precision care.     

Wireless Technologies in Healthcare: Selected Papers from IEEE PIMRC 2011

The use of wireless technologies for medical device communication, health monitoring (at hospitals or homes) and mobile healthcare information delivery (i.e. m-Health) is one of the most rapidly growing areas in health-IT research today. The papers which appear in this special issue have been carefully selected from the best IEEE PIMRC 2011 conference. They are highlighting various challenging issues in using wireless technology for healthcare applications such as PHY & MAC innovations for wearable and implantable medical sensors, optical communication and location systems in hospital environments and interference mitigation issues.     

Technology acceptance theories and factors influencing artificial Intelligence-based intelligent products

The rapid growth of artificial intelligence (AI) technology has prompted the development of AI-based intelligent products. Accordingly, various technology acceptance theories have been used to explain acceptance of these products. This comparative study determines which models best explain consumer acceptance of AI-based intelligent products and which factors have the greatest impact in terms of purchase intention. We assessed the utility of the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB), the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT), and the Value-based Adoption Model (VAM) using data collected from a survey sample of 378 respondents, modeling user acceptance in terms of behavioral intention to use AI-based intelligent products. In addition, we employed decomposition analysis to compare each factor included in these models in terms of influence on purchase intention. We found that the VAM performed best in modeling user acceptance. Among the various factors, enjoyment was found to influence user purchase intention the most, followed by subjective norms. The findings of this study confirm that acceptance of highly innovative products with minimal practical value, such as AI-based intelligent products, is more influenced by interest in technology than in utilitarian aspects.