Mining Face-to-Face Interaction Networks using Sociometric Badges: Predicting Productivity in an IT Configuration Task

Wu, Lynn; Waber, Benjamin N.; Aral, Sinan; Brynjolfsson, Erik; Pentland, Alex

doi:10.2139/ssrn.1130251

Cited by 130 publications

(101 citation statements)

References 47 publications

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“…We note that current technology makes remote communication and collaboration extremely easy and convenient; however, the importance of packing people physically close to each other is still widely emphasized [43][44][45] . We postulate that cities potentially operate under the same principle-as a consequence of proximity and easy face-to-face access between individualscommunication and ultimately productivity is greatly enhanced.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Urban characteristics attributable to density-driven tie formation

et al. 2013

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Motivated by empirical evidence on the interplay between geography, population density and societal interaction, we propose a generative process for the evolution of social structure in cities. Our analytical and simulation results predict both super-linear scaling of social-tie density and information contagion as a function of the population. Here we demonstrate that our model provides a robust and accurate fit for the dependency of city characteristics with city-size, ranging from individual-level dyadic interactions (number of acquaintances, volume of communication) to population level variables (contagious disease rates, patenting activity, economic productivity and crime) without the need to appeal to heterogeneity, modularity, specialization or hierarchy.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Urban characteristics attributable to density-driven tie formation

et al. 2013

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“…Networks from blutoothed mobiles were also studied for characterising some statistical properties of human mobility and contact [14]. Wu and colleagues used what they call "sociometric badges" to investigate impact of F2F interactions on productivity [18]. These badges used radio frequency to detect physical proximity, infra red to detect F2F body alignments, and voice sensors to detect conversations.…”

Section: Related Workmentioning

confidence: 99%

Social Dynamics in Conferences: Analyses of Data from the Live Social Semantics Application

Barrat

Cattuto

Szomszor³

et al. 2010

Lecture Notes in Computer Science

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Abstract. Popularity and spread of online social networking in recent years has given a great momentum to the study of dynamics and patterns of social interactions. However, these studies have often been confined to the online world, neglecting its interdependencies with the offline world. This is mainly due to the lack of real data that spans across this divide. The Live Social Semantics application is a novel platform that dissolves this divide, by collecting and integrating data about people from (a) their online social networks and tagging activities from popular social networking sites, (b) their publications and co-authorship networks from semantic repositories, and (c) their real-world face-to-face contacts with other attendees collected via a network of wearable active sensors. This paper investigates the data collected by this application during its deployment at three major conferences, where it was used by more than 400 people. Our analyses show the robustness of the patterns of contacts at various conferences, and the influence of various personal properties (e.g. seniority, conference attendance) on social networking patterns.

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“…This badge is capable of extracting speech features without recording the content of conversations in order to maintain privacy, and of wirelessly transferring data to a central server. We have used them in several organisations to capture face-to-face communication patterns and study the relationship between collective behaviour and performance outcomes, such as productivity and job satisfaction (Olguín-Olguín et al, 2009a,b;Wu et al, 2008). The design of the sociometric badges was motivated by the fact that a large number of organisations already require employees to wear RFID name tags that identify them and grant them access to several locations and resources.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sensor-based organisational design and engineering

Olguín-Olguín

Pentland

2010

IJODE

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Abstract:We propose a sensor-based organisational design and engineering approach that combines behavioural sensor data with other sources of information such as e-mail, surveys, and performance data in order to design interventions aimed at improving organizational outcomes. We discuss relevant theory and technology backgrounds and describe the general requirements of a sensor-based organizational design and engineering system. We present an experimental platform that combines sensor measurements, pattern recognition algorithms, statistical analysis, social network analysis, and feedback mechanisms to study the relationship between social signalling behaviour and face-to-face interaction networks, with job attitudes and performance. We describe three case studies that we have conducted in several organisations using our experimental platform and the methodology that we have followed. The first study looks at e-mail and face-to-face networks in a marketing division of a bank. The second study analyses the effects of nurses" social behaviour on patients" length of stay in the postanaesthesia care unit of a hospital. Finally, the third study analyses the effects of retail bank employees" social behaviour on sales performance. Keywords: Organisational design; organisational engineering; organisational behaviour; sociometric badges; social sensors; interventions.Reference to this paper should be made as follows: Olguín Olguín, D. and Pentland, A. D. Olguín Olguín and A. PentlandAlex (Sandy) Pentland is a pioneer in wearable computers, mobile information systems, technology for developing countries, consumer health, and computational social science. He is one of the most-cited computer scientists in the world, and has won numerous international awards in the Arts, Sciences and Engineering. He is a co-founder of the Wearable Computing research community, the Autonomous Mental Development research community, the Center for Future Health, and was the founding director of the Media Lab Asia. He was formerly the Academic Head of the MIT Media Laboratory and is now MIT"s Toshiba Professor of Media Arts and Sciences. He is the founder and current faculty director of the Human Dynamics group. Pentland"s focus is on the development of human-centred technology, and the creation of ventures that take this technology into the real world. His work provides people with a clearer picture of their social environments, and helps companies and communities to reinvent themselves to be both more human and more productive.

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Mining Face-to-Face Interaction Networks using Sociometric Badges: Predicting Productivity in an IT Configuration Task

Cited by 130 publications

References 47 publications

Urban characteristics attributable to density-driven tie formation

Urban characteristics attributable to density-driven tie formation

Social Dynamics in Conferences: Analyses of Data from the Live Social Semantics Application

Sensor-based organisational design and engineering

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