WildCam: A Privacy Conscious Wearable Eating Detection Camera People Will Actually Wear in the Wild

NCT05547425 | Completed

• 2 other identifiers: STU002135491R03DK127128-01
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 30
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

WildCam is a wearable device that collects video data of the user's face and upper torso to capture eating behaviors. WildCam and its accompanying software is privacy conscious, meaning it utilizes a computer vision algorithm that extracts proximal features (the user's body and objects-in-hand) from the video and digitally obfuscates the distal features (background environment and entities therein) to preserve the privacy of the wearer, as well as any bystanders who may be in the device's visual field. The present study tests the impact of 3 different obfuscation techniques on acceptability, including the willingness of users to wear the device. Participants are randomly assigned to 1 of the 3 obfuscation techniques (blurring, masking, or cartooning). Participants wear the WildCam during waking hours during a 7-day period with the randomly selected obfuscation setting enabled and a 7-day period with the raw images (no obfuscation) setting. The order of these periods is counterbalanced, and the two periods are separated by a 7-day washout period during which WildCam is not worn. Structured feedback, including user burden and acceptability surveys, is collected to determine the efficacy of each obfuscation technique on increasing user acceptability, including willingness to use the WildCam device, as opposed to a video-collecting device without obfuscation.

Conditions

Wearable Electronic Devices

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (1)

• Mean Wear Time

  Average duration in minutes of data collected per day, calculated from video time stamps

  7 days

Secondary Outcomes (1)

• Acceptability

  7 days

Study Arms (4)

Blur obfuscation

EXPERIMENTAL

Blurring is applied to objects and people in the background of images.

Device: Blur Obfuscation

Edge obfuscation

EXPERIMENTAL

Objects and people in the background of images are replaced with an outline of the object.

Device: Edge Obfuscation

Cartoon obfuscation

EXPERIMENTAL

Blurring is applied to objects and people in the background of images and the wearer's face is concealed with cartoon faces.

Device: Cartoon Obfuscation

Raw images

EXPERIMENTAL

No editing is performed on images.

Device: Raw images

Interventions

Blur Obfuscation DEVICE

Blurring is applied to objects and people in the background of images.

Blur obfuscation

Edge Obfuscation DEVICE

Objects and people in the background of images are replaced with an outline of the object.

Edge obfuscation

Cartoon Obfuscation DEVICE

Blurring is applied to objects and people in the background of images and the wearer's face is concealed with cartoon faces.

Cartoon obfuscation

Raw images DEVICE

No editing is performed on images.

Raw images

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 18 Years - 64 Years
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64)

You may qualify if:

• BMI 30 or greater
• Chicago Metro Area resident
• Able to speak, read, and write in English
• Valid phone number
• Smartphone ownership
• Have Wi-Fi at home

You may not qualify if:

• % or greater weight change in last 3 months
• Medication related weight gain
• Genetic obesity syndrome (e.g., Prader-Willi, Bardet-Biedl, Cohen Syndrome)
• Member of household enrolled in study

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Northwestern University: lead
• National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK): collaborator

Study Sites (1)

Northwestern University Department of Preventive Medicine

Chicago, Illinois, 60611, United States

Location

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: NONE
• Purpose: BASIC SCIENCE
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
• PI Title: Assistant Professor

Model Details: Of the 3 obfuscation settings (blur, mask, cartoon), participants are randomly assigned to 1, which they test for the first or second 7-day test period. During the remaining test period, participants use WildCam with the raw images setting. There is a washout period between each test period. The order of the test sequence is counterbalanced across participants to reduce carryover effects.

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: May 24, 2022
• First Posted: September 21, 2022
• Study Start: September 20, 2022
• Primary Completion: March 21, 2023
• Study Completion: March 21, 2023
• Last Updated: October 27, 2023

Record last verified: 2023-10

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will not share

Locations

US (1)