Estimating Level of Engagement from Ocular Landmarks

E-learning offers many advantages like being economical, flexible and customizable, but also has challenging aspects such as lack of – social-interaction, which results in contemplation and sense of remoteness. To overcome these and sustain learners’ motivation, various stimuli can be incorporated. Nevertheless, such adjustments initially require an assessment of engagement level. In this respect, we propose estimating engagement level from facial landmarks exploiting the facts that (i) perceptual decoupling is promoted by blinking during mentally demanding tasks; (ii) eye strain increases blinking rate, which also scales with task disengagement; (iii) eye aspect ratio is in close connection with attentional state and (iv) users’ head position is correlated with their level of involvement. Building empirical models of these actions, we devise a probabilistic estimation framework. Our results indicate that high and low levels of engagement are identified with considerable accuracy, whereas medium levels are inherently more challenging, which is also confirmed by inter-rater agreement of expert coders

Users’ intention to continue using mHealth services: A DEMATEL approach during the COVID-19 pandemic

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has changed the way we use and perceive online services. This study examined the influence of service quality factors during COVID-19 on individuals' intention to continue use mHealth services. A decision-making trial and evaluation laboratory (DEMATEL) approach was used to identify and analyse the relationships between service quality and individuals' intention to continue use mHealth during the COVID-19 pandemic. Individuals' direct, indirect, and interdependent behaviours in relation to service quality and continues use of mHealth were studied. A total of 126 respondents were involved in this study. The results identified several associations between service quality factors and individuals' continuous use of mHealth. The most important factor found to influence users’ decision to continuously use mHealth was assurance, followed by hedonic benefits, efficiency, reliability, and content quality. The relevant cause-and-effect relationships were identified and the direction for quality improvement was discussed. The outcomes from this study can support healthcare policy makers to swiftly and widely respond to COVID-19 challenges. The findings provide fundamental insights for healthcare organisations to promote continuous use of mHealth among people by prioritising service improvements

COVID-19 and people's continued trust in eHealth systems: a new perspective

Individuals’ use of eHealth services has increased significantly. However, the recent pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has resulted in a significant reallocation of health resources and support. This study investigated the impact of service quality dimensions on individuals’ continued trust in eHealth during COVID-19. A decision-making trial and evaluation laboratory (DEMATEL) approach was used to identify and analyse the causal relationships between service quality dimensions and individuals’ continued trust in eHealth services. A total of 134 eHealth users (78 males and 56 females; aged 29–61 years) responded to the DEMATEL questionnaire. The results showed a variation in the impact of service quality factors on individuals’ continued trust in eHealth services. This study found three core factors (responsiveness, assurance and tangibility) that influence individuals’ continued trust in eHealth services. Other secondary factors (e.g. content quality, reliability, efficiency and hedonic benefits) were found to be primarily influenced by the core factors. The identified relationships in this study can aid the decision-making process of healthcare providers and increase the efficiency of healthcare delivery