Building Net Trust in the Homes of Seniors

  • Zheng Dong, Indiana University; Arjmand Samuel, Microsoft

Today, those over 65 years old own more than one-third of all publicly traded value in the United States. Yet financial security mechanisms for the Internet have not been designed for this demographic. Locks and certificates do not meet their needs. Security indicators such as third-party blacklists have been utilized to block malicious websites and inform online browsing behaviors.

In this talk, Zheng introduces the Net Trust system developed by the NSF-funded Ethical Technology in the Homes of Seniors (ETHOS) Laboratory. Instead of relying on third-party blacklists alone, Net Trust utilizes both implicit and explicit ratings submitted by social network members and empowers the end users to make informed decisions. The innovative Ambient Cube is the only haptic security interaction designed for and tested by elders.

Three other technologies are also introduced in this talk. The Beacon Strip detects falling; the Portal Monitor detects wandering; and the Ambient Clock minimizes social isolation. The fundamental unifying ideas embodied in all these designs are aesthetic design for elders and technical design for privacy.

Speaker Details

Zheng Dong is a Ph.D. candidate in School of Informatics and Computing at Indiana University. His research interests include privacy, incentive-centered design for information security, and data mining. Starting 2011, Zheng has been the lab manager of the ETHOS project. Zheng is a lead developer of the Net Trust system, participated in building several other research prototypes, and manages the technologies and facilities of the intelligent ETHOS house.

Series: Microsoft Research Talks