Experiences of in-home evaluation of independent living technologies for older adults

Evaluating home-based independent living technologies for older adults is essential. Whilst older adults are a diverse group with a range of computing experiences, it is likely that many of this user group may have little experience with technology and may be challenged with age-related impairments that can further impact upon their interaction with technology. However, the evaluation life cycle of independent living technologies does not only involve usability testing of such technologies in the home. It must also consider the evaluation of the older adult’s living space to ensure technologies can be easily integrated into their homes and daily routines. Assessing the impact of these technologies on older adults is equally critical as they can only be successful if older adults are willing to accept and adopt them. In this paper we present three case studies that illustrate the evaluation life cycle of independent living technologies within TRIL, which include ethnographic assessment of participant attitudes and expectations, evaluation of the living space prior to the deployment of any technology, to the final evaluation of usability and participant perspectives

Independence for Whom? A Critical Discourse Analysis of Onboarding a Home Health Monitoring System for Older Adult Care

Home health monitoring systems (HHMS) are presented as a cost-effective solution that will assist with collaborative care of older adults. However, instead of care recipients feeling like collaborators, such systems often disempower them. In this paper, we examine the dissemination, onboarding, and initial use of an HHMS to see how the discourse used by developers and participants affects users' collaborative care efforts. We found that the textual information provided often contrasted with how our participants managed their care. Instead of providing participants with 'independence,' 'safety,' and 'peace of mind,' care recipients were placed in a more dependent, less proactive role, and care providers were pressured to take on more responsibilities. We position HHMS, as they are currently marketed and onboarded, as normalizing pseudo-institutionalization. As an alternative we advocate that the discourse and design of such systems should reflect and re-enforce the varied roles care recipients take in managing their care

Slacktivists or Activists?: Identity Work in the Virtual Disability March

Protests are important social forms of activism, but can be inaccessible to people with disabilities. Online activism, like the 2017 Disability March, has provided alternative venues for involvement in accessible protesting and social movements. In this study, we use identity theory as a lens to understand why and how disabled activists engaged in an online movement, and its impact on their self-concepts. We interviewed 18 disabled activists about their experiences with online protesting during the Disability March. Respondents' identities (as both disabled individuals and as activists) led them to organize or join the March, evolved alongside the group's actions, and were reprioritized or strained as a result of their involvement. Our findings describe the values and limitations of this activism to our respondents, highlight the tensions they perceived about their activist identities, and present opportunities to support further accessibility and identity changes by integrating technology into their activist experiences

Communication Needs of Elderly at Risk of Falls and their Remote Family

The aging population experiences increased health risks, both physical and emotional. Two such risks are those of isolation and falling. This papers draws from HCI literature in these two independent research areas to explore the needs of family communication with elderly parents at risk of falls. We report on a study with 7 elderly parents and 3 of adult children, as well as a group interview with 12 elderly living in a sheltered accommodation. Findings indicate important emotional needs on both parts: adult children’s anxiety for the wellbeing of their parents at risk of falls, and elderly’s need for autonomy and their appreciation for an aesthetic design. We concluded with implications of these findings for designing for family communication in this challenging context

Applying the “human-dog interaction” metaphor in human-robot interaction: a co-design practice engaging healthy retired adults in China

This research adopts a Deweyan pragmatist approach and “research through design” methods to explore the use of human-dog interaction as a model for developing human-robot interaction. This research asks two questions: (1) In what way could the human-dog interaction model inform the design of social robots to meet the needs of older adults? (2) What role could aesthetic, functional and behavioural aspects of the human-dog interaction play in older adults’ interaction with social robots? Driven by the pragmatist approach, this thesis uses the dog-human interaction model as a metaphor in this thesis. The research carried out four studies in two parts. The first part of the practice includes two explorative studies to identify aspects of human-dog interaction that could inform the design of social robots for older adults. Study 1 explores aspects of human-dog interaction that could inform the design of human-robot interaction for retired adults. Study 2 explores a group of healthy retired adults’ attitudes and preferences toward social/assistive robots in China. The findings suggest that, first, the pairing and training process provides a framework for building personalised social robots in terms of form, function, interaction, and stakeholders involved. Second, the cooperative interaction between a human and a guide dog provides insights for building social robots that take on leading roles in interactions. The robot-as-dog metaphor offers a new perspective to rethink the design process of social robots based on the role dog trainer, owner, and the dog plays in human-dog interaction. In the second part of the practice, two more studies are conducted to articulate the usefulness of the designer-as-trainer-metaphor, and the personalisation-astraining-metaphor, using participatory co-designing methods. Engaging both retired adult participants and roboticists as co-designers to investigate further how aesthetic aspects, functional features, and interactive behaviours characterising dog-human interaction could inform how older adults can interact with social robots. Study 3 involved co-designing a robot probe with roboticists and later deploying it in a participant’s home using the Wizard of Oz method. The personalisation-as-training metaphor helps facilitate a critical discussion for the interdisciplinary co-design process. It broadens the design space when addressing the technical limitation of the probe’s camera through reflection-in-action. Study 4 engages the retired adults as co-designers to envision what characteristics they would like robots to have, with attention to the robot’s form, the functions that the robot can perform and how the robot interacts with users. The study applies techniques such as sketching and storyboarding to understand how retired adults make sense of these core elements that are key to developing social/assistive robots for positive ageing. This thesis makes two main contributions to knowledge in human-robot interaction and interaction design research. Firstly, it provides an applied example using the robot-as-dog metaphor as a tool to probe human-robot interactions in a domestic context. Secondly, to show dog-human interaction model is applicable to different levels of abstraction for the co-designing process that involves the roboticists and the end-users. The outcome shows a reflective practice that engages metaphors to facilitate communication across disciplines in the co-design process