A roboethics framework for the development and introduction of social assistive robots in elderly care

There is an emerging “aging phenomenon” worldwide. It is likely that we will require the introduction of assistive technologies that can assist caregivers in the exercise of elderly care. Such technologies should be designed in ways that promote high levels of human dignity and quality of life through the aging process. Social Assistive Robots (SARs) demonstrate high potential for complementing elderly care when it comes to cognitive assistance, entertainment, communication and supervision. However such close Human Robotics Interactions (HRIs) encompass a rich set of ethical scenarios that need to be addressed before SARs are introduced into mass markets. To date the HRI benchmarks of “Imitation”, “Safety”, “Autonomy”, “Privacy”, “Scalability”, “Social success” and “Understanding of the domain” are the only guidelines to inform SARs developers when developing robotic prototypes for human assistance. However such HRI benchmarks are broad and lack of theoretical background to understand potential ethical issues in elderly care. Further, there is little guidance for either developers or those involved in the provision of care, regarding the appropriate introduction of SARs.In this research the current HRI benchmarks are reviewed alongside the core ethical principles of beneficence, non-maleficence, autonomy and justice, together with a social care ethos. Based on such interpretation, practical robotics workshops were conducted in five care and extra care institutions with the direct participation of elderly groups, caregivers and relatives. “In-situ” robotics demonstrations, informal interviews and observations were conducted, investigating human behaviours, attitudes, expectations, concerns, and levels of acceptance towards the introduction of SARs in elderly care settings. Following a thematic analysis of the findings, a roboethics framework is proposed to support the research and development of SARs. The developed framework highlights the importance of selection, categorization and completion of relevant HRI benchmarks, HRI templates, HRI supervision schemes and ethical specifications for SARs applications

Accessibility of Health Data Representations for Older Adults: Challenges and Opportunities for Design

Health data of consumer off-the-shelf wearable devices is often conveyed to users through visual data representations and analyses. However, this is not always accessible to people with disabilities or older people due to low vision, cognitive impairments or literacy issues. Due to trade-offs between aesthetics predominance or information overload, real-time user feedback may not be conveyed easily from sensor devices through visual cues like graphs and texts. These difficulties may hinder critical data understanding. Additional auditory and tactile feedback can also provide immediate and accessible cues from these wearable devices, but it is necessary to understand existing data representation limitations initially. To avoid higher cognitive and visual overload, auditory and haptic cues can be designed to complement, replace or reinforce visual cues. In this paper, we outline the challenges in existing data representation and the necessary evidence to enhance the accessibility of health information from personal sensing devices used to monitor health parameters such as blood pressure, sleep, activity, heart rate and more. By creating innovative and inclusive user feedback, users will likely want to engage and interact with new devices and their own data

Tecnología, innovación e investigación en los procesos de enseñanza-aprendizaje

Este libro ha ganado el “PREMIO INTERNAZIONALE FRANCESCO SAVERIO NITTI PER IL MEDITERRANEO 2017” (NÁPOLES, ITALIA).Este libro pretende mostrar un compendio de aportaciones en torno a la tecnología, innovación e investigación en los procesos de enseñanza-aprendizaje, de ahí su título. Desde diversos contextos educativos, los autores respectivos de cada capítulo dan a conocer las posibilidades que ofrecen las Tecnologías de la Información y la Comunicación [TIC] con respecto al diseño y desarrollo de nuevos escenarios de enseñanza-aprendizaje. Cabe considerar que las TIC deben asentarse en fundamentos pedagógicos cuando se trate de perfilar las características de dichos escenarios educativos. Así, se podrán mostrar reflexiones, innovaciones e investigaciones que añadan nuevos significados al conocimiento. En este sentido, las aportaciones de este libro se estructuran en cuatro grandes bloques temáticos: Innovación Educativa, Investigación Científica en Tecnología Educativa, Políticas Educativas y de Investigación, y Escenarios de aprendizaje basados en TIC. Se trata de cuatro pilares en los cuales consideramos debe fundamentarse el aporte de investigación, desarrollo e innovación que este libro contiene a fin de responder a las exigencias educativas del siglo XXI