[Mapserver-users] Seek GPS mobile service experiment participants

[Changqing Zhou]

This message is not directly related to map server; but it may be
interesting to this GIS community. I apologize if you feel this message is
irelevant to the mission of the mailing list.

I am a gradute student in computer science major from the University of
Minnesota.

We are doing a very interesting project to research the new GPS
mobile services. We are seeking people to participate our exciting
experiment to test out the GPS phone, the wireless services and the
personal place discovery software. We hope this study will generate some
design guidelines for mobile GPS applications development.

In the experiment, we will give you a GPS phone and ask you to carry it
for 3 weeks. Each day, we ask you to write down the places you have been
to. At the end, we would like to do an interview with you to hear your
experiences.

If you are interested in participating, please contact me at
czhou at cs.umn.edu. We however are only seeking people in Minneapolis metro
area.

Enclosed please find a word document that contains more detailed info.

I appreciate your help.

Best Regards,

Changqing Zhou
PhD Student
Computer Science
University of Minnesota
czhou at cs.umn.edu

**********************************************************************

========================
Personal Place Discovery
========================

You are invited to be in a research study of software that learns people
"personal places". You were selected as a possible participant because you
meet the requirements of the study, simply that you spend time in and move
around between different places. We ask that you read this form and ask
any questions you may have before agreeing to be in the study.

This study is being conducted by: Changqing Zhou, Department of Computer
Science and Engineering, The University of Minnesota

-----------------------
Background Information:
-----------------------
The purpose of this study is:  Our research group at the University of
Minnesota is carrying out an experimental test of a new type of mobile
phone service.   We're developing software that can learn people's
"personal places".  By a personal place, we mean a location that is
meaningful and significant to a person - like your home or office, grocery
stores you go to, your church or synagogue, and so on.  Once software can
learn places, there is a whole range of new services we can offer, such as
"place-enhanced" Instant Messaging (IM).

-----------
Procedures:
-----------
If you agree to be in this study, we would ask you to do the following
things:

We'll give you a mobile phone to carry with you wherever you go - you'll
keep the phone for three weeks.  The phone uses the Global Positioning
System (GPS) to find your position at frequent intervals and sends the
information to a location tracking web server.   Your personal data will
be kept safe and private! They will be stored on a server and accessible
only through a login ID and password known only to you and the
experimenters.  Each day, you'll also write down a list of the places
you've been in.

After the two weeks of data collection are finished, we'll run our place
learning software on your data.  We'll then arrange a time for you to
evaluate how well the software worked and get your general feedback on the
system and experiment.  We can do the evaluation in our lab, at your
office, or in another convenient place.  At this time, you'll also return
the mobile phone.

Important note: if you experience technical problems with the mobile phone
during the course of the study, please contact us immediately.  You will
not be financially liable for a lost or damaged phone.

-----------------------------------------
Risks and Benefits of being in the Study:
-----------------------------------------

There are no significant risks or benefits of participation.

-------------
Compensation:
-------------
Participants in the study will be entered into a drawing for a $25
Amazon.com gift certificate.  We will give away at least 4 gift
certificates, and we anticipate including 30 participants in the study.

----------------
Confidentiality:
----------------
The records of this study will be kept private. In any sort of report we
might publish, we will not include any information that will make it
possible to identify a subject.  This means that we won't use your name,
any private or identifiable place names you enter, or the actual location
of any of your personal places.  Research records will be stored securely
and only researchers will have access to the records.

------------------------------
Voluntary Nature of the Study:
------------------------------
Participation in this study is voluntary. Your decision whether or not to
participate will not affect your current or future relations with the
University of Minnesota. If you decide to participate, you are free to not
answer any question or withdraw at any time with out affecting those
relationships.

-----------------------
Contacts and Questions:
-----------------------
The researchers conducting this study are: Changqing Zhou, Pamela Ludford,
and Loren Terveen. If you would like to participate the study, please
contact Changqing Zhou via email: czhou at cs.umn.edu or phone: (612)
363-8708. You are also encouraged to contact Loren Terveen, (612) 624-8310
and terveen at cs.umn.edu for any questions.

If you have any questions or concerns regarding this study and would like
to talk to someone other than the researcher(s), you are encouraged to
contact the Research Subjects' Advocate Line, D528 Mayo, 420 Delaware St.
Southeast, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55455; (612) 625-1650.