Wearable Sensors Watch Workers

Sensors that track social behavior highlight the benefits of face-to-face interaction.

By Kate Greene

Wednesday, May 13, 2009

Office workers who make time to chat face to face with colleagues may be far more productive than those who rely on e-mail, the phone, or Facebook, suggests a study carried out by researchers at MIT and New York University.

Social sense: This sensor was worn by employees at a call center in Rhode Island to record activity and social interaction. MIT and New York University researchers correlated sensor data with productivity. Credit: Sandy Pentland, MIT

The researchers outfitted workers in a Rhode Island call center with a wearable sensor pack that records details of social interactions. They discovered that those employees who had in-person conversations with coworkers throughout the day also tended to be more productive.
The results aren't yet published, but they support research published last December by the same team. This study showed that employees at an IT company who completed tasks within a tight-knit group that communicated face to face were about 30 percent more productive than those who did not communicate in a face-to-face network.
"The big idea is that what you do on your coffee break and over lunch really matters for productivity," says Sandy Pentland, a professor at MIT's Media Lab, who led the study. "Face-to-face networks matter, and the implications are huge."

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