The multi-modal interface of Robot-Era multi-robot services tailored for the elderly

Socially assistive robotic platforms are now a realistic option for the long-term care of ageing populations. Elderly users may benefit from many services provided by robots operating in different environments, such as providing assistance inside apartments, serving in shared facilities of buildings or guiding people outdoors. In this paper, we present the experience gained within the EU FP7 ROBOT-ERA project towards the objective of implementing easy-to-use and acceptable service robotic system for the elderly. In particular, we detail the user-centred design and the experimental evaluation in realistic environments of a web-based multi-modal user interface tailored for elderly users of near future multi-robot services. Experimental results demonstrate positive evaluation of usability and willingness to use by elderly users, especially those less experienced with technological devices who could benefit more from the adoption of robotic services. Further analyses showed how multi-modal modes of interaction support more flexible and natural elderly–robot interaction, make clear the benefits for the users and, therefore, increase its acceptability. Finally, we provide insights and lessons learned from the extensive experimentation, which, to the best of our knowledge, is one of the largest experimentation of a multi-robot multi-service system so far

Living Lab Research Landscape: From User Centred Design and User Experience towards User Cocreation

International audienceNew paradigms, such as Open Innovation (Chesbrough, 2003) and Web 2.0 (O'Reilly, 2004) as well as Living Labs operating as a User Centred Open Innovation Ecosystem (Pallot, 2009), promote a more proactive role of users in the R&D process. However, a number of existing methods for involving users are abundantly described in the literature, such as Lead User (Von Hippel, 2005), User Driven Innovation (Von Hippel, 1986), User Centred Design (Von Hippel, 2005) and User Created Content (O'Reilly, 1998) as well as User Co-Creation (Prahalad & Ramaswamy, 2000). This paper explores the domain landscape of Living Lab research, based on the landscape of human-centred design research (Sanders & Stappers, 2008; Sanders, 2008) and later introduced in the domain of Living Lab research (Mulder & Stappers, 2009). It also discusses the links with existing theories such as Social Capital Theory (Nahapiet and Ghoshal, 1998) and Social Cognitive Theory (Bandura, 1986) as well as Socio-Emotional Intelligence Theory (Goleman, 1998). It also explores the creation of User Group Experience concept for bringing the socio-emotional perspective (Norman, 1995; 1998; 2004; 207; Goleman, 1998) into User Experience (Fleming, 1998) that appears too much focusing on individual users and usability.Cet article présente une cartographie des recherches menées en lien avec les living labs

Engineering Multiagent Systems - Reflections

This report documents the programme and outcomes of Dagstuhl Seminar 12342 ``Engineering multiagent Systems\u27\u27. The seminar brought together researchers from both academia and industry to identify the potential for and facilitate convergence towards standards for agent technology. As such it was particularly relevant to industrial research. A key objective of the seminar, moreover, has been to establish a road map for engineering multiagent systems. Various research areas have been identified as important topics for a research agenda with a focus on the development of multiagent systems. Among others, these include the integration of agent technology and legacy systems, component-based agent design, standards for tooling, establishing benchmarks for agent technology, and the development of frameworks for coordination and organisation of multiagent systems. This report presents a more detailed discussion of these and other research challenges that were identified. The unique atmosphere of Dagstuhl provided the perfect environment for leading researchers from a wide variety of backgrounds to discuss future directions in programming languages, tools and platforms for multiagent systems, and the road map produced by the seminar will have a timely and decisive impact on the future of this whole area of research

Future bathroom: A study of user-centred design principles affecting usability, safety and satisfaction in bathrooms for people living with disabilities

Research and development work relating to assistive technology 2010-11 (Department of Health) Presented to Parliament pursuant to Section 22 of the Chronically Sick and Disabled Persons Act 197

A Smart Kitchen for Ambient Assisted Living

The kitchen environment is one of the scenarios in the home where users can benefit from Ambient Assisted Living (AAL) applications. Moreover, it is the place where old people suffer from most domestic injuries. This paper presents a novel design, implementation and assessment of a Smart Kitchen which provides Ambient Assisted Living services; a smart environment that increases elderly and disabled people’s autonomy in their kitchen-related activities through context and user awareness, appropriate user interaction and artificial intelligence. It is based on a modular architecture which integrates a wide variety of home technology (household appliances, sensors, user interfaces, etc.) and associated communication standards and media (power line, radio frequency, infrared and cabled). Its software architecture is based on the Open Services Gateway initiative (OSGi), which allows building a complex system composed of small modules, each one providing the specific functionalities required, and can be easily scaled to meet our needs. The system has been evaluated by a large number of real users (63) and carers (31) in two living labs in Spain and UK. Results show a large potential of system functionalities combined with good usability and physical, sensory and cognitive accessibility

Feasibility of a wireless health monitoring system for prevention and health assessment of elderly people

The work presented in this paper comprises the methodology and results of a pilot study on the feasibility of a wireless health monitoring system designed under main EU challenges for the promotion of healthy and active ageing. The system is focused on health assessment, prevention and lifestyle promotion of elderly people. Over a hundred participants including elderly users and caregivers tested the system in four pilot sites across Europe. Tests covered several scenarios in senior centers and real home environments, including performance and usability assessment. Results indicated strong satisfactoriness on usability, usefulness and user friendliness, and the acceptable level of reliability obtained supports future investigation on the same direction for further improvement and transfer of conclusions to the real world in the healthcare delivery

Include 2011 : The role of inclusive design in making social innovation happen.

Include is the biennial conference held at the RCA and hosted by the Helen Hamlyn Centre for Design. The event is directed by Jo-Anne Bichard and attracts an international delegation

A new living lab for usability evaluation of ICT and next generation networks for elderly@home

Living Usability Lab for Next Generation Networks (www.livinglab.pt) is a Portuguese industry-academia collaborative R&D project, active in the field of live usability testing, focusing on the development of technologies and services to support healthy, productive and active citizens. The project adopts the principles of universal design and natural user interfaces (speech, gesture) making use of the benefits of next generation networks and distributed computing. Therefore, it will have impact on the general population, including the elderly and citizens with permanent or situational special needs. This paper presents project motivations, conceptual model, architecture and work in progress.info:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersio