Abstract:
Participatory Sensing systems leveraging mobile phones offer unprecedented observational capacity at the scale of the individual; at the same time they are remarkably scalable and affordable given the wide proliferation of cellular phone infrastructure and consumer devices that incorporate location services, imagers, accelerometers, and easy programmability. These systems can be leveraged by individuals and communities to address a range of personal, community and environmental health concerns including chronic disease management and prevention. At the same time they present challenges in usability, open architectures, and data privacy. This talk draws upon pilot projects ongoing at the Center for Embedded Networked Sensing at UCLA.

Bio:
Deborah Estrin (Ph.D., MIT) is the Jon Postel Chair Professor of Computer Science at UCLA, and Director of the NSF-funded Center for Embedded Networked Sensing (CENS). Estrin's group is developing open and privacy-preserving participatory sensing systems leveraging user-contributed data streams (prompted and automated) from mobile smartphones. Applications include: self-monitoring for chronic disease research, management, and prevention; community data campaigns; and STEM education. Estrin is a member of the National Academy of Engineering, and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. http://cens.ucla.edu/Estrin