Acceptance and perception of wearable technologies: A survey on Brazilian and European companies. (February 2022)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Schwambach, Gislene Cássia S.; López, Óscar Hernández; Sott, Michele Kremer; Carvalho Tedesco, Leonel Pablo; Molz, Rolf Fredi
• Is Part Of: Technology in society. Volume 68(2022)
• Publication Date: 2022-02
• Subjects: Wearable devices -- Internet of things -- User acceptance -- Acceptance theory; Technology -- Social aspects -- Periodicals; 303.483
• DOI: 10.1016/j.techsoc.2021.101840
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0160-791X

Abstract

Abstract: Wearable computing devices are those inserted into the user's personal space, being able to provide sensing, data processing and communication. The use of this technology is in continuous growth in the last years, especially in the context of Industry 4.0. The goal of this study is to identify the acceptance of wearable technologies in industrial environments, as well as the factors that influence users' acceptance and perception. The research method includes a survey composed by 32 questions, answered by 871 employees of Brazilian and European companies (Germany, Belgium, Spain, Italy and Turkey) from various industrial sectors. Data analysis was applied on the survey responses, based on Machine Learning techniques, specifically through an adaptive Gradient Boosting algorithm, for results comparison between Brazil and Europe. Three statistical models are proposed to analyze acceptance inside and outside the workspace and acceptance outside workspace when there is a benefit for the worker respondent. The acceptance levels of wearable technologies in the workspace resulted in 82.22% in Brazil, and 81.74% in Europe. On the other side, acceptance of the technology outside the workspace reached 79.68% in Brazil and 66.21% in Europe. The last part of the study presents an acceptance outside the workspace increasing to 91.22% in Brazil and 84.02% in Europe when there is some type of compensation for the user. Highlights: In general. to accept a given technology, it is important to the user to be informed about the wearable device proposal. Wearable technology users typically worry about the privacy of collected data. Technology acceptance for both Brazilian and European users are not statistically different when survey data are considered together. According to the geographic area, technology acceptance outside workspace is higher in Brazil than in Europe. For both Brazilian and European survey respondents, technology acceptance reach higher levels when there is compensation for the user.