Wearable technologies are valuable tools that can encourage people to monitor their own well-being and facilitate timely health interventions. In this paper, we present SPW-2; a low-profile versatile wearable sensor that employs two ultra low power accelerometers and an optional gyroscope. Designed for minimum maintenance and a long-term operation outside the laboratory, SPW-2 is able to offer a battery lifetime of multiple months. Measurements on its wireless performance in a real residential environment with thick brick walls, demonstrate that SPW-2 can fully cover a room and -in most cases -the adjacent room, as well.

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One of the challenges of deploying IoT battery-powered sensing systems is managing the maintenance of batteries. To that end, practitioners often employ prediction techniques to approximate the battery lifetime of the deployed devices. Following a series of long-term residential deployments in the wild, this paper contrasts real-world battery lifetimes and discharge patterns against battery lifetime predictions that were conducted during the development of the deployed system. The comparison highlights the challenges of making battery lifetime predictions, in an attempt to motivate further research on the matter. Moreover, this paper summarises key lessons learned that could potentially accelerate future IoT deployments of similar scale and nature.

Voice user interfaces (VUIs) are increasingly popular, particularly in homes. However, little research has investigated their potential in other settings, such as schools. We investigated how VUIs could support inclusive education, particularly for pupils with visual impairments (VIs). We organised focused discussions with educators at a school, with support staff from local authorities and, through bodystorming, with a class of 27 pupils. We then ran a series of co-design workshops with participants with mixed-visual abilities to design an educational VUI application. This provided insights into challenges faced by pupils with VIs in mainstream schools, and opened a space for educators, sighted and visually impaired pupils to reflect on and design for their shared learning experiences through VUIs. We present scenarios, a design space and an example application that show novel ways of using VUIs for inclusive education. We also reflect on co-designing with mixed-visual-ability groups in this space. CCS CONCEPTS • Human-centered computing → Participatory design; Accessibility design and evaluation methods; • Applied computing → Collaborative learning.

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