Mobile Service Support based on Smart Glasses

Emerging technologies, such as smart glasses, offer new possibilities to support service processes. Specifically, in situations where a person providing a service, such as a technician, needs both hands to complete a complex set of tasks, hands-free speech-controlled information systems can offer support with additional information. We investigated this research field in a three-year consortium with partners from the agricultural technology sector. During the course of our research, we 1) analyzed the domain in a multi-method approach to develop (meta-)requirements, 2) proposed design principles, 3) instantiated them in a prototype, and 4) evaluated the prototype. We followed a design science research approach in which we combined the build phase with four evaluation cycles that comprised focus groups, a prototype demonstration, and, based on that demonstration, a survey with 105 domain experts. We address real-world problems in providing information at the point of service and contribute to the methodological knowledge base of IS design and service systems engineering by developing and implementing design requirements and principles for smart glasses-based service support systems

Emerging technologies for learning (volume 1)

Collection of 5 articles on emerging technologies and trend

Challenges and complexities in application of LCA approaches in the case of ICT for a sustainable future

In this work, three of many ICT-specific challenges of LCA are discussed. First, the inconsistency versus uncertainty is reviewed with regard to the meta-technological nature of ICT. As an example, the semiconductor technologies are used to highlight the complexities especially with respect to energy and water consumption. The need for specific representations and metric to separately assess products and technologies is discussed. It is highlighted that applying product-oriented approaches would result in abandoning or disfavoring of new technologies that could otherwise help toward a better world. Second, several believed-untouchable hot spots are highlighted to emphasize on their importance and footprint. The list includes, but not limited to, i) User Computer-Interfaces (UCIs), especially screens and displays, ii) Network-Computer Interlaces (NCIs), such as electronic and optical ports, and iii) electricity power interfaces. In addition, considering cross-regional social and economic impacts, and also taking into account the marketing nature of the need for many ICT's product and services in both forms of hardware and software, the complexity of End of Life (EoL) stage of ICT products, technologies, and services is explored. Finally, the impact of smart management and intelligence, and in general software, in ICT solutions and products is highlighted. In particular, it is observed that, even using the same technology, the significance of software could be highly variable depending on the level of intelligence and awareness deployed. With examples from an interconnected network of data centers managed using Dynamic Voltage and Frequency Scaling (DVFS) technology and smart cooling systems, it is shown that the unadjusted assessments could be highly uncertain, and even inconsistent, in calculating the management component's significance on the ICT impacts.Comment: 10 pages. Preprint/Accepted of a paper submitted to the ICT4S Conferenc

Designing wearables for use in the workplace: the role of solution developers

Wearables (such as data glasses and smartwatches) are a particularly visible element of Industrie 4.0 applications. They aim at providing situation-specific information to workers, but at the same time they can also be used for surveillance and control because they generate data on the work process and sometimes even on movement patterns and vital data of the employees. Wearables technology is at an early stage of development, in which the interests and perspectives of relevant stakeholders, especially technology developers and the management, are of particular importance. This article explores the role of solution developers and their understanding of work processes in which wearables are to be used. It is based on expert interviews with solution developers, academic and company experts. The analysis shows an ambivalent understanding of work: On the one hand, it is characterized by the perception of workers as potential sources of error. It focuses on the optimization of individual workplaces and their ergonomics, while broader questions of work design and work organization are ignored. On the other hand, the technology developers see and discuss the potentials and dangers of wearables technologies with regard to individualization, data protection and control in a differentiated manner

Smart Glasses in Health Care: A Patient Trust Perspective

Digitization in the health care sector is striving forward. Wearable technologies like smart glasses are being evaluated for providing hands-free and septic-safe access to information systems at the point of care. While smart glasses hold the potential to make service processes more efficient and effective, it is unclear whether patients would opt-in to treatments involving smart glasses. Patients are not active users of smart glasses but are nevertheless affected of outcomes produced by the symbiosis of health care workers and smart glasses. Using an online survey with 437 respondents, we find that it is important to properly explain to patients why smart glasses are being used and to proactively address data privacy concerns. Otherwise, smart glasses can significantly increase risk perceptions, reduce patients’ estimates of health care workers’ abilities, and decrease patients’ willingness to opt-in to medical procedures