From Context to Content: Designing Sensor Support for Reflective Learning

This thesis examines how wearable sensor systems can support reflective learning by monitoring work experiences. A design space is defined that guides designers to build systems that can provide content for reflection. Wearable sensors and applications have been developed and evaluated to capture the affective and social context in workplace settings. It is a first step towards the generation of learning content from sensor data

Quantifying Quality of Life

Describes technological methods and tools for objective and quantitative assessment of QoL Appraises technology-enabled methods for incorporating QoL measurements in medicine Highlights the success factors for adoption and scaling of technology-enabled methods This open access book presents the rise of technology-enabled methods and tools for objective, quantitative assessment of Quality of Life (QoL), while following the WHOQOL model. It is an in-depth resource describing and examining state-of-the-art, minimally obtrusive, ubiquitous technologies. Highlighting the required factors for adoption and scaling of technology-enabled methods and tools for QoL assessment, it also describes how these technologies can be leveraged for behavior change, disease prevention, health management and long-term QoL enhancement in populations at large. Quantifying Quality of Life: Incorporating Daily Life into Medicine fills a gap in the field of QoL by providing assessment methods, techniques and tools. These assessments differ from the current methods that are now mostly infrequent, subjective, qualitative, memory-based, context-poor and sparse. Therefore, it is an ideal resource for physicians, physicians in training, software and hardware developers, computer scientists, data scientists, behavioural scientists, entrepreneurs, healthcare leaders and administrators who are seeking an up-to-date resource on this subject

Quantifying Quality of Life

Describes technological methods and tools for objective and quantitative assessment of QoL Appraises technology-enabled methods for incorporating QoL measurements in medicine Highlights the success factors for adoption and scaling of technology-enabled methods This open access book presents the rise of technology-enabled methods and tools for objective, quantitative assessment of Quality of Life (QoL), while following the WHOQOL model. It is an in-depth resource describing and examining state-of-the-art, minimally obtrusive, ubiquitous technologies. Highlighting the required factors for adoption and scaling of technology-enabled methods and tools for QoL assessment, it also describes how these technologies can be leveraged for behavior change, disease prevention, health management and long-term QoL enhancement in populations at large. Quantifying Quality of Life: Incorporating Daily Life into Medicine fills a gap in the field of QoL by providing assessment methods, techniques and tools. These assessments differ from the current methods that are now mostly infrequent, subjective, qualitative, memory-based, context-poor and sparse. Therefore, it is an ideal resource for physicians, physicians in training, software and hardware developers, computer scientists, data scientists, behavioural scientists, entrepreneurs, healthcare leaders and administrators who are seeking an up-to-date resource on this subject

Presence 2005: the eighth annual international workshop on presence, 21-23 September, 2005 University College London (Conference proceedings)

OVERVIEW (taken from the CALL FOR PAPERS) Academics and practitioners with an interest in the concept of (tele)presence are invited to submit their work for presentation at PRESENCE 2005 at University College London in London, England, September 21-23, 2005. The eighth in a series of highly successful international workshops, PRESENCE 2005 will provide an open discussion forum to share ideas regarding concepts and theories, measurement techniques, technology, and applications related to presence, the psychological state or subjective perception in which a person fails to accurately and completely acknowledge the role of technology in an experience, including the sense of 'being there' experienced by users of advanced media such as virtual reality. The concept of presence in virtual environments has been around for at least 15 years, and the earlier idea of telepresence at least since Minsky's seminal paper in 1980. Recently there has been a burst of funded research activity in this area for the first time with the European FET Presence Research initiative. What do we really know about presence and its determinants? How can presence be successfully delivered with today's technology? This conference invites papers that are based on empirical results from studies of presence and related issues and/or which contribute to the technology for the delivery of presence. Papers that make substantial advances in theoretical understanding of presence are also welcome. The interest is not solely in virtual environments but in mixed reality environments. Submissions will be reviewed more rigorously than in previous conferences. High quality papers are therefore sought which make substantial contributions to the field. Approximately 20 papers will be selected for two successive special issues for the journal Presence: Teleoperators and Virtual Environments. PRESENCE 2005 takes place in London and is hosted by University College London. The conference is organized by ISPR, the International Society for Presence Research and is supported by the European Commission's FET Presence Research Initiative through the Presencia and IST OMNIPRES projects and by University College London

Psychological and biological factors in acute coronary heart disease.

Psychosocial factors are thought to contribute to the long term development of coronary artery disease (CAD), to the triggering of cardiac events in people with advanced disease, and to adaptation following acute coronary syndromes (ACS). My thesis presents three studies addressing different aspects of the relationship between emotional factors and CAD, using different methodologies. They focus on the role of negative emotions in vulnerability to myocardial ischaemia in daily life, the influence of acute emotional triggers of ACS on long term quality of life, and the effect of depression following ACS on a particularly important aspect of adaptation, namely return to work. The first study, called the Silent Ischaemia Study (SIS) investigated 88 out-patients with suspected CAD who underwent 24 hour ambulatory electrocardiogram (ECG) monitoring, together with saliva sampling and characterisation of daily life by a new method called the Day Reconstruction Method (DRM). The results indicated that in patients with definite CAD, depressed mood was associated with reduced high frequency and increased low frequency heart rate variability (HRV), suggestive of parasympathetic withdrawal. The Cortisol slope over the day was flatter in more depressed patients with CAD. Episodes of transient ischaemia and/or arrhythmia were also associated with increased negative affect, but their incidence was low, primarily because most patients were medicated with beta blockers. The second and third studies derive from the ACCENT (Acute Coronary Syndrome, Emotion and Triggers) study, exploring long term adaptation following ACS. Analyses showed that the likelihood of returning to work was negatively associated with depression immediately following ACS, independently of clinical and demographic factors, and that emotional triggers predicted elevated anxiety and poor mental health status at 12 and 36 months independently of covariates. In combination, these studies suggest that negative emotional status contribute both to the onset of acute cardiac events, and to adaptation following ACS

New Trends in Cognitive Ageing and Mild Cognitive Impairment

This book focuses on the process of cognitive ageing, considering the increase in cognitive impairment associated with the aging of the population and the related care impact. Special attention is given to cognitive health changes linked to the increase in life expectancy, including the role of subjective factors; the link between cognitive function, mobility and functionality; and the potential role of digital technologies, including computerized cognitive tests and virtual reality environments

Applied Cognitive Sciences

Cognitive science is an interdisciplinary field in the study of the mind and intelligence. The term cognition refers to a variety of mental processes, including perception, problem solving, learning, decision making, language use, and emotional experience. The basis of the cognitive sciences is the contribution of philosophy and computing to the study of cognition. Computing is very important in the study of cognition because computer-aided research helps to develop mental processes, and computers are used to test scientific hypotheses about mental organization and functioning. This book provides a platform for reviewing these disciplines and presenting cognitive research as a separate discipline