As spaces become wired up with sensor networks, people's behavior will be increasingly subject to monitoring, recording, and overall scrutiny. How can the average person be made aware that they might be being watched?
For Josh Lifton and Joe Paradiso's class, "Applications for Sensor Networks," Dave Merrill and I built a fabric doll ("Dorsey") that would indicate to anyone entering a sensor-networked space (1) that the sensor network was on and recording their behavior and (2) specifically which modalities (audio, movement) were in use.
Dorsey was hooked into a sensor network unit ("the plug"). Using an IR motion detector, Dorsey would inflate if he detected someone crossing his field of view. In addition, icons on his back would light up, indicating which sensors on the plug were currently enabled. After a minute, he would deflate.
A natural extension of this project would turn the light-up icons into buttons, so that anyone could deactivate a given sensor on the plug by pushing its corresponding button.
