When Your Living Space Knows What You Do: Acceptance of Medical Home Monitoring by Different Technologies

Technology acceptance of conventional Information and Communication technologies (ICT) devices is extensively researched within the last twenty years. However, comparably small knowledge is prevalent with respect to ubiquitous ICT in the living environment. Furthermore, there is nearly no data about user acceptance’s dependency of integrated technologies on varying domestic spaces and how acceptance varies regarding user diversity. This study explores the acceptance of home-integrated ICT (hands-free equipment, camera, positioning system). In different domestic spaces (living room, bedroom, bathroom) acceptance for integrated technology was assessed, using qualitative as well as quantitative methods. Results show that users’ acceptance differs considerably depending on the room type (acceptance is the highest in the living and the lowest in the bathroom). Moreover, the most disliked technology for home monitoring are camera-based systems, followed by the positioning system and the microphone. Also, there was a significant interacting effect of room type and technology: While none of these technologies is accepted for the bathroom, the living room is less sensitive to their presence with the microphone as the most accepted technology. User diversity does not play a major role hinting at generic acceptance patterns regarding ICT integrated in home environments.