Mobile Applications to Support Physical Exercise - Motivational Factors and Design Strategies

The growing incidence of health problems attributed to contemporary lifestyles, and the limited resources of healthcare, has led several stakeholders to look for alternative preventive healthcare methods. Physical exercise has many good effects for health, but people often lack motivation towards it. Smartphone applications can act as motivational tools, as they are accessible, mobile, and have suitable technological abilities. During past 10 years, a large number of mobile exercise applications have been launched and, increasingly, wellness technologies have been researched in the field of human-computer interaction (HCI). However, the field lacks a comprehensive overview of the design strategies related to motivational exercise applications. Additionally, research in the field has mostly been conducted in western cultures, and perspectives from the developing world are missing.This thesis explores the design space of mobile applications that aim to motivate the users to engage in physical exercise. The main foci of the research were to identify the motivational factors towards the use of mobile exercise applications and to formulate a comprehensive overview of design strategies for motivational, mobile exercise applications. The results were gained from a constructive design research process that included user studies, concepting and evaluation of motivational exercise applications, a cross study analysis of motivational factors, and formulating design strategies. The user studies were conducted in Finland and India with working-age participants.Based on a rich set of empirical studies, this research produces insights for a wide set of motivational factors towards the use of mobile exercise applications. It points out differences in motivational factors between Finnish and Indian participants. For example, the use of surprising elements and certain playful elements as sources of motivation appealed to Indian participants more than Finns, who, in general, had a more pragmatic perspective towards the exercise applications. Finns were motivated by viewing their goals and progress by numbers and graphs, while Indians did not adopt the numerical approaches. The second outcome of the research is a comprehensive, structured and focused model of design strategies for motivational, mobile exercise applications. The model includes 34 design strategies divided into six dimensions. Nine of the strategies are India specific. The design strategies can be utilised in the design work of future exercise applications

Design Implications for a Virtual Language Learning Companion Robot : Considering the Appearance, Interaction and Rewarding Behavior

Second language learning has become very important because of globalization and as a result, many online language learning platforms have gained popularity. Despite their popularity and convenience, they still lack the human factor and meaningful interaction. Robot-Assisted language learning (RALL) is a concept where social robots are employed to assist in language learning, adding meaningful and human-like interactions to the process. In the case of online learning platforms, a similar approach can be taken using virtual robots. Virtual robots are similar to social robots as they can have a visual appearance, communication capabilities as well as human-like features. This research aims to understand the potential users', i.e., university students' perceptions, and expectations of a virtual robot as a language learning companion. We are focusing on three major aspects of its design: Appearance, interaction and rewarding behavior. This is a qualitative and explorative study, which employs a human-centered design (HCD) approach by conducting a co-design workshop with five groups of university-level language students (n = 25) and a theme interview with seven design students. This article presents the first phase of the HCD process. The participants were asked questions about the appearance, behavior, movements, motivational factors, sound and rewarding features of the potential virtual language companion robot. The findings show that the idea of having an interactive virtual robot to assist online language learning was accepted and appreciated by all the participants but their expectations about the robot's design varied. The potential users preferred a robot-like appearance rather than a human-like one for the virtual language learning companion, however, different robot-like appearances were mentioned in terms of their body parts, hands, head, shapes etc. Human-like gestures and movements were appreciated by the participants. Finally, seven design implications were formulated to support the further design of a virtual robot that can act as a virtual language learning companion as part of an online learning platform for university students.acceptedVersionPeer reviewe

Spatial solutions supporting information exchange and knowledge creation

Architectural practice is a creative, knowledge-based organization, and therefore information exchange and knowledge creation are essential components of architects’ profession. However, these aspects of architectural practice are not studied widely. The objective of this study is to analyse how the mobility of the different types of workers’ effects on the information exchange and knowledge creation in a team-based office layout. The research material was collected from a semi-large Finnish architecture office. The methods employed are qualitative: theme interviews with the employees and the executives of the office, together with the informal on-site observations. The preliminary analysis of the research material indicates that the team-based office layout supported tacit knowledge exchange and creative group work. The team rooms, however, did not support the individual working preferences of the participants. Furthermore, the tacit knowledge remained inside the team and did not spread through the whole organization. Therefore, as a downside, the team-based working inhibited the information exchange and knowledge creation between different teams

University Language Instructors Programming Robotic Learning Applications : Design and implementation of encouraging programming workshop experiences

Educational robots serve multiple purposes, including language learning, social skills development for students with autism, and improving communication skills. This research emphasizes the role of educational professionals in designing robotic learning activities, highlighting their understanding of pedagogy and student needs. Two language instructors co-designed programming workshops which aimed to teach them how to program the social robot NAO. They implemented robotic language learning activities that were used by 35 students in Finnish language courses. The results of this research suggested that hands-on programming workshops are an effective way to learn robot programming. Maintaining motivation during the sessions is facilitated by setting clear and concrete goals, monitoring progress, acquiring new knowledge, and following a precise schedule. The instructors faced challenges such as unexpected responses from the robots, the initial complexity of the programming software, and apprehensions about programming based on prior knowledge of text-based programming languages.Peer reviewe

Robocamp at home : Exploring families' co-learning with a social robot: Findings from a one-month study in the wild

Social robots are becoming important agents in several sectors of people's lives. They can act in diferent contexts, e.g., public spaces, schools, and homes. Operating, programming and interacting with these robots will be an essential skill in the future. We present a qualitative and explorative study on how family members collaboratively learn (co-learn) about social robots at their homes. Our one-month in the wild study took place at homes of eight families (N=32) in Finland. We defned a novel model for co-learning about and with a social robot at home, Robocamp. In Robocamp, Alpha Mini robot was introduced and left within the families, who were then provided with weekly robotic challenges to be conducted with the robot. The research data was collected by semi-structured interviews and online diaries. This study provides novel insights about family-based co-learning with social robots in the home context. It also ofers recommendations for implementing family-based co-learning with social robots at homes.publishedVersionPeer reviewe

Walking Outdoor with a Zoomorphic Mobile Robot: Exploration of Robot-Assisted Physical Activities for Older Adults

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Collaborative Learning with Social Robots – Reflections on the Novel Co-learning Concepts Robocamp and Robotour

This article presents the Robostudio space for collaborative learning (co-learning) around and with social robots, and two novel co-learning concepts. The first concept, Robocamp, is a home-based one-month learning model for family members’ co-learning with a robot. In this model, a social robot is borrowed for families, and weekly hands-on tasks to be conducted with the robot are provided. The second concept, a co-learning workshop called Robotour, takes place in Robostudio and there, university students and primary school pupils together gain an understanding of different aspects of social robots. Both concepts aim for the cooperation between different learner groups and increasing their knowledge about social robots, interaction with them, and how to operate or program them. We present the current state-of-the-art in the area of educational robots, as well as initial evaluations of our concepts with the authentic target groups. We also reflect on our concepts in light of their benefits and potential. According to the evaluation findings, Robocamp provided an encouraging environment that allowed all the participating family members to participate in the collaborative activity, as well as think critically about the limitations of the robots. Robotour successfully raised different learner groups’ curiosity towards robots, which further resulted in the enhancement of their creativity. The knowledge from this article can be utilized by researchers, designers, and teachers, who are interested in the development and implementation of co-learning activities around and with social robots.Peer reviewe

Co-Learning around Social Robots with School Pupils and University Students – Focus on Data Privacy Considerations

We adopt a novel approach of co-learning between elementary school pupils and university students around social robots and ro- botics. Social robots provide a motivational learning tool for various learning tasks. Having different learner groups together may bring in new insights, perspectives and learning. Although social robots provide an interesting platform for learning, they have challenges in terms of data privacy, as they track, process and transfer personal data. These matters should be carefully considered. We describe a qualitative and exploratory study including two phases: 1) design of co-learning activities (N=16), and 2) evaluation of co-learning activities (N=56). All co-learning tasks were developed by utilizing privacy-sensitive robotics approach and the tasks included some learning content about data privacy. The evaluation was conducted as co-learning workshops with school pupils of 10 to 15 years and international university students. We report findings about the co- learning experience of these learner groups, as well as their data privacy learnings on social robots. We also present considerations for educational robotics from the data privacy perspective.Peer reviewe

Exploring the Personality Design Space of Robots : Personalities and Design Implications for Non-Anthropomorphic Wellness Robots

Non-anthropomorphic robots can be cost-effective and efficient choice in certain context in comparison to social or humanoid robots. However, introduction of non- anthropomorphic robots can evoke uncertainty and anxiety due to novelty of technology. The goal of this paper is to explore personality design space for non-anthropomorphic well- ness robots in office environment to foster acceptance among users. Through Participatory Design approach, we explored appropriate personalities for a well-being robot, which would detect employees’ sitting posture and suggest small wellness interventions. We addressed the following research questions: (i) How can personalities be designed and integrated to non- anthropomorphic wellness robots to promote users’ acceptance? (ii) How do the users perceive designed personalities of non- anthropomorphic wellness robot in the office context? We conducted one contextual inquiry (n=5) and one co-design workshop (n=15) followed by evaluation (n=5) in IT office environment with office employees . As a contribution to the paper, we present personalities and design implications for non-anthropomorphic wellness robot in the office context. Our contribution will serve as a guideline for designers to explore and expand their knowledge on designing robot personalities for non-anthropomorphic robots in the context.Peer reviewe

The effectiveness and applicability of different lifestyle interventions for enhancing wellbeing : the study design for a randomized controlled trial for persons with metabolic syndrome risk factors and psychological distress

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