'Do you smell rotten eggs?' Evaluating interactions with mobile agents in crisis response situations

In this paper, we present ongoing research concerning the interaction between users and autonomous mobile agents in the environmental monitoring domain. The overarching project, DIADEM, deals with developing a system that detects potentially hazardous situations in populated industrial areas using input from both a distributed sensor network and humans through mobile devices. We propose a model of interaction with the gas detection system where concerned citizens communicate with a mobile agent to inform the gas monitoring system about unusual smells via their mobile phones. Next, we present a preliminary user requirements analysis based on 40 phone calls from members of the public to an environmental monitoring agency. Finally, we introduce measures to study the delicate long-term social relationship between users and the gas monitoring system.