Daniela Rosner
University of Washington, WA·Computer Science
Millions of parents depend on in-home childcare workers. Some workers come to families' homes, and others care for children in their own homes.
- Fields
Computer Science
Social Science
Engineering
- Topics
childcare workers
in-home childcare
future of work
- Grants
- 1 known grant, through Dec 2026
What they work on
- Study how hiring platforms, parents' decisions and smart home cameras affect in-home childcare workers' hiring, privacy and independence, through forums and directed research groups with workers, families and placement services.
- Design and evaluate matching platforms and algorithms that pair childcare workers with families to meet both parties' needs while avoiding errors common in hiring algorithms.
- Develop virtual reality and virtual agent training that helps childcare workers prepare for rare or difficult childcare situations and conversations with families and others.
- Build and evaluate systems that connect childcare workers with each other for emotional, informational and business support and for organizing to improve working conditions.
More about the research
These workers face hard conditions in their work environments, training, support and pay. A growing set of technologies may make these problems worse. Examples include home cameras, other smart home devices and gig-style platforms that match workers with families for short jobs. This project asks what risks and opportunities these technologies create. It also aims to design new technologies that benefit workers, parents, children and society.
Why it matters
The project could give in-home childcare workers fairer hiring tools, better training for difficult situations and support networks. It could also help clarify how cameras and gig platforms affect their privacy and independence. Parents and children could gain better-matched, better-supported caregivers. Platform designers could gain evidence on making matching algorithms that avoid common hiring errors.
Known grants
From NIH and NSF research grants. Labs often have other funding we can't see.
Closest labs
Jason Wiese
University of Utah, UT·Computer Science·Early-career
Document how patients, visitors, and hospital employees from physicians to custodial staff currently use rehabilitation hospital rooms already equipped with smart home technology, through observations, interviews, and analysis of device log data.
Jin Ryong Kim
University of Texas at Dallas, TX·Computer Science·Early-career
Map how thermal masking, an illusion in which combined touch and temperature cues make heat or cold feel located at a precise spot, varies across space and time, using perception experiments on human participants.
Anita Sarma
Oregon State University, OR·Computer Science
Identify the needs and expectations of students and instructors for a chatbot that supports open source software contribution, using participatory design.
The school
University of Washington: 81 labs on PI Pages, $1.7B a year on research, 694 research doctorates a year.
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