Designing personalized video-based crossmedia informal learning environments beyond iTV

Tese de doutoramento, Informática (Engenharia Informática), Universidade de Lisboa, Faculdade de Ciências, 2014Video is a very rich medium, in cognitive and affective terms, to convey information and support learning and entertainment like no other medium, and TV is a privileged way to watch it. However, by being traditionally watched in a more experiential and passive cognitive mode, TV and video are limited in their capacity to fully support learning so important in the lifelong learning era where learning is taking place in a wide variety of contexts and locations that calls for flexible environments. TV and video are limited in their capacity to fully support learning but may induce viewers to engage in more reflective modes, that can be supported to some extent by their adequate design, in interactive contexts and augmented by other media and devices, in diverse situations. The inclusion of iTV that has been gaining increasing attention from researchers, and practitioners, in the last few years, as part of rich and flexible crossmedia environments brings new opportunities in this respect. This situation justifies our research main goal to efficiently and flexibly support users learning informal opportunities created in video-based crossmedia environments, taking into account the different cognitive modes, contexts of use and taking advantage of the diverse devices being used in order to have each device contributing with what it does best. In order to illustrate, explore and validate our research, the eiTV application was conceptualized, prototyped and evaluated. It is capable to create videobased crossmedia informal learning environments, created as additional information to the video being watched, initially via iTV. These environments are accessed from iTV, PC and mobile devices (the most commonly used in crossmedia scenarios), depending on the preferred or most adequate device in each context of use.Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT, SFRH/PROTEC/67727/2010, projeto UTA-Est/MAI/0010/2009

Intelligent technologies for the aging brain: opportunities and challenges

Intelligent computing is rapidly reshaping healthcare. In light of the global burden of population aging and neurological disorders, dementia and elderly care are among the healthcare sectors that are most likely to benefit from this technological revolution. Trends in artificial intelligence, robotics, ubiquitous computing, neurotechnology and other branches of biomedical engineering are progressively enabling novel opportunities for technology-enhanced care. These Intelligent Assistive Technologies (IATs) open the prospects of supporting older adults with neurocognitive disabilities, maintain their independence, reduce the burden on caregivers and delay the need for long-term care (1, 2). While technology develops fast, yet little knowledge is available to patients and health professionals about the current availability, applicability, and capability of existing IATs. This thesis proposes a state-of-the-art analysis of IATs in dementia and elderly care. Our findings indicate that advances in intelligent technology are resulting in a rapidly expanding number and variety of assistive solutions for older adults and people with neurocognitive disabilities. However, our analysis identifies a number of challenges that negatively affect the optimal deployment and uptake of IATs among target users and care institutions. These include design issues, sub-optimal approaches to product development, translational barriers between lab and clinics, lack of adequate validation and implementation, as well as data security and cyber-risk weaknesses. Additionally, in virtue of their technological novelty, intelligent technologies raise a number of Ethical, Legal and Social Implications (ELSI). Therefore, a significant portion of this thesis is devoted to providing an early ethical Technology Assessment (eTA) of intelligent technology, hence contributing to preparing the terrain for its safe and ethically responsible adoption. This assessment is primarily focused on intelligent technologies at the human-machine interface, as these applications enable an unprecedented exposure of the intimate dimension of individuals to the digital infosphere. Issues of privacy, integrity, equality, and dual-use were addressed at the level of stakeholder analysis, normative ethics and human-rights law. Finally, this thesis is aimed at providing evidence-based recommendations for guiding participatory and responsible development in intelligent technology, and delineating governance strategies that maximize the clinical benefits of IATs for the aging world, while minimizing unintended risks