On accepting smart environments at user and societal levels

Abstract

This paper studies beliefs which predict acceptance of smart environments at the user level and the preconditions for acceptance at the societal level. The authors use a thorough literature survey and eight in-depth expert interviews based on four scenarios (home, conference, mall, and gym). As the results indicate, the crucial beliefs for acceptance turn out to be usefulness, ease of use, trust, and social influence at the user level. At the societal level, the preconditions are cultural, economic, and legal. The in-depth interviews confirm some of the results previously reported in the literature including the importance of usefulness, ease of use, and trust for user acceptance. In addition to previous results, social influence as a belief is considered. The external variables affecting beliefs are divided into two categories, namely individual differences and circumstantial differences. Individual differences include variables (age, socio-economic status, experience) already known in the literature, also considering health. Circumstantial differences include audience and place. Place can be public, semi-public, or private and considered from the viewpoints of location (size, pathways) and degree of familiarity. Audience was considered from the amount and role of people at presence (alone, with friends, with strangers). To the authors' knowledge, these circumstantial differences have not been discussed in the user acceptance literature before.