SocialBit

A toolkit for objective, passive, privacy-sensitive, and reliable social interaction measurements.

SocialBit is a simple-to-use system for collecting data on social interaction.

Designed for any researchers who would like to measure the social interaction of participants, SocialBit is smartwatch-based and collects data on social interaction using audio in a privacy-sensitive manner.

Data collection / processing

Our smartwatch app runs on Google's Wear OS.

SocialBit passively analyzes audio on-device without storing any raw audio.

Audio "features" are extracted and run through a lightweight machine-learning model to classify social interaction activity.

How to use SocialBit

1

Obtain and setup the smartwatch


Purchase a Wear OS smartwatch with at least 1.5GB of RAM and 16GB of storage, such as the TicWatch Pro 5. Pair it with an Android phone.

2

Install the SocialBit app (for watch and phone)


We will provide the SocialBit app through the Google Play Store. The app will be installed on both the smartwatch and the Android phone.

3

Give the smartwatch with the SocialBit app to a participant


The participant will wear the smartwatch for a period of time. The app will collect data on social interactions and store it on the watch. (Phone not required during data collection.)

4

Upload the data from the watch to our server


The participant will return the watch to you. You will need an Android phone with the companion app installed. Follow the in-app instructions to upload the data to our server.

5

Download the data for all of your participants


You will be able to download the data for all of your participants, including social interaction metrics and survey responses (optional). The data will be in a conventional CSV format that you can analyze using standard statistical software.

Contact us!

New user or general inquiry?

If you have any questions or would like to learn more about SocialBit, please contact Min Shin, our project lead, at mcshin@charlotte.edu

Existing user?

We recommend existing users to login to the user portal (top right) and check those resources for assistance.