What is ConfLab ?
ConfLab is a data collection concept for investigating and supporting research on multi-modal group dynamics. It is a Conference Living Lab by the community and for the community.
Where and when?
Our workshop will take place on Thursday, July 17, from 13:00 to 16:00 at Diamond Hall, Postillon Hotel.
Mix, Mingle, and Measure!
This edition of ConfLab has 3 components:
Mix: Meet scholars across different disciplines and career stages.
Mingle: Shape future research avenues and foster interdisciplinary research collaborations. Feel like a networking newbie? A networking tutorial and barcamp is integrated into the workshop to help you break the ice.
Measure: We record you whilst you mingle. We share your data with the research community for academic research purposes balancing strict ethics and privacy requirements.
Easy to Contribute
As a living lab we have tried to optimize comfort and ecological validity; talk with others just like at the conference but with a smart drinking cup in hand and state of the art multi-modal sensing technology. We set up the tech, designed the experiment, obtained ethical approval (from the Technical University of Delft Human Research Ethics Council). You just need to bring yourself!
Sign Up
Sign up for our workshop by filling in our Informed Consent Form, where you agree to participate and to donate your data for research purposes.
Still undecided and have some questions? Have a look at our FAQ.
Our Open Source MINGLE Midge wearable device records body behavior from an inertial measurement unit (an accelerometer, gyroscope, and a magnetometer) and proximity to others during your interactions.
One Midge is worn around the neck like a conference badge. Another is placed underneath our new smart drinking cup from which you will be served refreshments!
This data will be associated with your anonymized numerical identifier that is consistent across all the modalities.
GoPro cameras will be mounted on the ceiling to capture the interaction overhead. This choice is designed to mitigate the capturing of faces.
You will also be asked to have a photo taken of you and your numerical identifier during the event. This will only be used to associate all multi-modal multi-sensor data to you. This photo will not be shared with the research community.
Speech quality audio will be recorded by the Midges. However, since it is not placed close to the mouth, it will be noisy. To address this, we also use a Sennheiser wireless microphone system that can record high quality audio of 32 people simultaneously while walking around freely, much like in a live theater production.
You will also be asked to answer short surveys about your interests, experiences, perceptions, and personality. This data will be linked with your behavioral data via your anonymized numerical identifier.
Locatify UWB badges allow us to pinpoint participants in real-time and with precise locations, both in absolute terms with respect to the room and with respect to each other.