Do Not Disturb!

Dr. Anja Exler's fitness tracker occasionally signals to her that she is not getting enough deep sleep. This is hardly suprising and not particularly easy to change for a mother of two young children - and therefore probably information she could do without. If, on the other hand, her smartwatch were to warn her that her blood pressure was dangerously high, the situation might be quite different. This is precisely what the computer scientist focuses on in her research. Using smartphones, she aims to determine when certain information is relevant to a particular person - and therefore when it is actually wanted.

Almost everyone now carries a smartphone in their pocket or keeps one within reach. This also means that we have the option of being connected 24/7 - to news feeds, posts, queries, updates, advertisements, and much more. Being online means opening the door wide to the digital world. However, the constant flow of information is not always wanted or necessary, and at times is can be downright annoying. At the same time, smartphones offer a smart way of collecting relevant data from (potential) customers. They provide numerous options for doing so, for example by tracking the places users visit, their habits, interests, and much more. Broadly speaking, separating the wheat from the chaff is what Anja Exler's work is all about. 

As part of her doctoral research, she investigated smartphone-based system that make it possible to collect high-quality data while simultaneously reducing the flood of information reaching users. For her doctoral thesis, which she completed at KIT's Institute of Telematics, the computer scientist received the Erna Scheffler Award for Female Researchers from the Soroptimist Club Karlsruhe in 2019. 

"Mobile phones are both a blessing and a curse," she says. "On the other hand, they are portable sensor systems that provide us with relevant information and enable communication. This is extremly useful in research, for example with the "Experience Sampling" method. In this approach, study participants are asked questions about their everyday lives as they go about their normal routines." 

However, in order to avoid overwhelming users with information, measures are needed to filter out unnecessary interruptions while ensuring that important information gets through. This makes it important to strike a balance between the frequency of queries and participants' satisfaction. In other words, users should be approached according to their current situation and in the way that suits them best. At a gas station, for example, there might be time to answer a question on a smartphone while refueling, whereas during a romantic candlelit dinner there would not. And while one person might respond best to a vibration, another might be more likely to notice a red text notification on the home screen. 

Intelligent systems such as those developed by Anja Exler are designed to make precisely these distinctions - essentially, sensitive software with a sense of empathy. 

"My work fundamentally focuses on recognizing a user's physical activities and the context in which they occur," Exler explains. Smartphones are particularly well suited as data collection devices for her research because they eliminate the need for additional equipment, habe little impact on everyday life, and do not place futher restriction on participants. In addition, these small mobile companions contain a wide range of interesting sensors and data sources that can provide valuable information. 

All of this data can be used to support users in their everyday lives. For example, if a smartphone detects that a user is jogging, it could automatically adapt the design of the music player, enlarge relevant buttons such as "Play/Stop" or "Previous/Next," and hide others. Such activity recognition could also be used to detect anomalies in a user's behavior. A smartphone, for instance, could recognize that someone has fallen and automatically place an emergency call. 

Anja Exler could see her future research moving futher toward health prevention and disease prevention. "This affects all of us," says the scientist, who believes that artifical intelligence could support the healthcare sector in many different ways. 

Her research is a classic example of interdisciplinary work: it combines computer science with psychology. This is precisely what Anja Exler finds to fascinating about her field: "Computer science is versatile and that has very little to do with programming alone; I am the best example of that." 

Even today, computer science tends to rank relatively low among potential fields of a study for women. But Anja Exler already knew as a school student that she wanted to pursue this path. As the first person in her family to attend university, however, she also needed a strong sense of determination. Her family and social environment were initially rather skeptical about her choice of degree. 

This is one of the reasons why she became involved with the ArbeiterKind initiative. "We encourage school students from families without university background to become the first in their family to attend university," she explains. 

Women, in particular, sometimes need an extra push to have the confidence to pursue new opportunities, Anja Exler believes. She organized that support for herself though STEM programs, mentors, and study groups. And when it came to the next step in her career, she once again deliberately sought out support: "I am taking part in the "Traumberuf Professorin" mentoring program, where I have a mentor at the university who has already given me a great deal of valuable advice," she says. 

Kontakt: anja exler ∂does-not-exist.kit edu