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Open Sesame! Use of Headphones at Work Considering Social Acceptance

    Authors

    Jan Schmalfuß-Schwarz, David Gollasch, Christin Engel, Meinhardt Branig & Gerhard Weber 

    Conference

    ICCHP 2024

    Format

    Full Paper Contribution

    Review-Process

    Peer-Review

    Reference

    Schmalfuß-Schwarz, J., Gollasch, D., Engel, C., Branig, M., Weber, G. (2024). Open Sesame! Use of Headphones at Work Considering Social Acceptance. In: Miesenberger, K., Peňáz, P., Kobayashi, M. (eds) Computers Helping People with Special Needs. ICCHP 2024. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 14751. Springer, Cham.

    https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-62849-8_52

    Zusammenfassung (übersetzt)

    Focus is crucial for high performance in jobs requiring advanced cognitive tasks. Office environments often have high ambient noise and sudden sounds that distract workers. While headphones with Active Noise Cancellation (ANC) can mitigate these distractions, they also limit social interaction and may be considered isolating by others. The importance of social interaction in the workplace is noted in EN ISO 10075-2:2000 to prevent monotony. Therefore, there is a need for solutions that balance the use of ANC headphones for focused work with maintaining social interactions. This paper explores assistive technologies that are adapted to specific contexts and user groups, aiming to support concentration while enabling social engagement in office settings. Special attention is given to the needs of autistic individuals in vocational training centers, for whom a low-noise environment is crucial due to their sensitivity to contextual stimuli. We present observational results, analyze contextual factors, and propose a support concept specifically for autistic employees. Our findings lay the foundation for developing further applications that support communication and integration for autistic individuals in the workplace.

    The figure shows the schematic structure of the system. It consists of three components, each represented by rectangles and connected by arrows. The rectangles on the left and right each show a stylistic person sitting at a computer with headphones and a nearby person with a speech bubble, as well as the words 'Wake word recognized'. The left-hand rectangle also shows 'wake word recognized' and 'do not inform', while the right-hand rectangle shows 'wake word recognized' and 'inform'. In the middle of the two rectangles is another one labeled 'Context analyzer' that connects both rectangles with arrows. The context analyzer also contains 'context-sensitive decision' and a list with 'speaker recognition', 'environment analyzer', 'predefined factors' and three dots. From the context analyzer, an arrow goes to the left-hand rectangle with the caption 'Addressing person unknown' and 'Context unaccepted'. Another arrow goes to the right rectangle labeled 'speaking person known' and 'context accepted'.
    Schematic representation of the proposed concept for a context-sensitive system for enhancing social interaction when wearing noise-canceling headphones (ANC) at the workplace.

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