Automatic captions on video calls: a must for the older adults

Open Access funding provided thanks to the CRUE-CSIC agreement with Springer Nature. Work co-financed by the Canary Islands Agency for Research, Innovation and Information Society of the Ministry of Economy, Knowledge and Employment and by the European Social Fund (ESF) Integrated Operational Program of the Canary Islands 2014–2020, Axis 3 Priority Topic 74 (85%). This work has been supported by the PERGAMEX ACTIVE project, Ref. RTI2018- 096986-B-C32, funded by the Ministry of Science and Innovation. Spain. Agencia Canaria de Investigación, Innovación y Sociedad de la Información (TESIS2020010113).In recent years, the use of video call or video conference tools has not stopped increasing, and especially due to the COVID- 19 pandemic, the use of video calls increased in the educational and work spheres, but also in the family sphere, due to the risks of contagion in face-to-face meetings. Throughout the world, many older people are affected by hearing loss. Auditory functional diversity can make it difficult to enjoy video calls. Using automatic captions might help these people, but not all video calling tools offer this functionality, and some offer it in some languages. We developed an automatic conversation captioning tool using Automatic Speech Recognition and Speech to Text, using the free software tool Coqui STT. This automatic captioning tool is independent of the video call platform used and allows older adults or anyone with auditory functional diversity to enjoy video calls in a simple way. A transparent user interface was designed for our tool that overlays the video call window, and the tool allows us to easily change the text size, color, and background settings. It is also important to remember that many older people have visual functional diversity, so they could have problems reading the texts, thus it is important that each person can adapt the text to their needs. An analysis has been carried out that includes older people to analyze the benefits of the interface, as well as some configuration preferences, and a proposal to improve the way the text is displayed on the screen. Spanish and English were tested during the investigation, but the tool allows us to easily install dozens of new languages based on models trained for Coqui STT.Open Access funding provided thanks to the CRUE-CSIC agreement with Springer NatureCanary Islands Agency for Research, Innovation and Information Society of the Ministry of Economy, Knowledge and Employment and by the European Social Fund (ESF) Integrated Operational Program of the Canary Islands 2014–2020, Axis 3 Priority Topic 74 (85%)PERGAMEX ACTIVE project, Ref. RTI2018- 096986-B-C32, funded by the Ministry of Science and Innovation. SpainAgencia Canaria de Investigación, Innovación y Sociedad de la Información (TESIS2020010113

Amsawal: Aplicación de aprendizaje basada en H5P. Un ejemplo práctico para aprender Tamazight.

Máster Universitario en Educación y Tecnologías de la Información y ComunicaciónEn este trabajo analizaremos la creación de un entorno virtual de aprendizaje compatible con dispositivos móviles y entornos de escritorio. Nos centraremos en el uso de H5P para generar nuestras actividades educativas interactivas, todo ello integrado en un entorno gamificado y con herramientas sociales. El uso de WordPress es básico para conseguir encajar todas las piezas del puzle en una sola aplicación. Para probar la aplicación con un ejemplo real, creamos un curso de introducción al idioma Tamazight. Este idioma es hablado en el norte de África en la zona conocida como Tamazgha por el pueblo Amazigh desde hace miles de años.In this work we will analyze the creation of a virtual learning environment compatible with mobile devices and desktop environments. We will focus on the use of H5P to generate our interactive educational activities, all integrated in a gamified environment and with social tools. The use of WordPress is essential to fit all the pieces of the puzzle in one application. To test the application with a real example, we created an introduction course to the Tamazight language. This language is spoken in North Africa in the area known as Tamazgha by the Amazigh people for thousands of year

Personalized Gamification for Learning: A Reactive Chatbot Architecture Proposal

A key factor for successfully implementing gamified learning platforms is making students interact with the system from multiple digital platforms. Learning platforms that try to accomplish all their objectives by concentrating all the interactions from users with them are less effective than initially believed. Conversational bots are ideal solutions for cross-platform user interaction. In this paper, an open student–player model is presented. The model includes the use of machine learning techniques for online adaptation. Then, an architecture for the solution is described, including the open model. Finally, the chatbot design is addressed. The chatbot architecture ensures that its reactive nature fits into our defined architecture. The approach’s implementation and validation aim to create a tool to encourage kids to practice multiplication tables playfully

Assessment of plasma chitotriosidase activity, CCL18/PARC concentration and NP-C suspicion index in the diagnosis of Niemann-Pick disease type C : A prospective observational study

Niemann-Pick disease type C (NP-C) is a rare, autosomal recessive neurodegenerative disease caused by mutations in either the NPC1 or NPC2 genes. The diagnosis of NP-C remains challenging due to the non-specific, heterogeneous nature of signs/symptoms. This study assessed the utility of plasma chitotriosidase (ChT) and Chemokine (C-C motif) ligand 18 (CCL18)/pulmonary and activation-regulated chemokine (PARC) in conjunction with the NP-C suspicion index (NP-C SI) for guiding confirmatory laboratory testing in patients with suspected NP-C. In a prospective observational cohort study, incorporating a retrospective determination of NP-C SI scores, two different diagnostic approaches were applied in two separate groups of unrelated patients from 51 Spanish medical centers (n = 118 in both groups). From Jan 2010 to Apr 2012 (Period 1), patients with ≥2 clinical signs/symptoms of NP-C were considered 'suspected NP-C' cases, and NPC1/NPC2 sequencing, plasma chitotriosidase (ChT), CCL18/PARC and sphingomyelinase levels were assessed. Based on findings in Period 1, plasma ChT and CCL18/PARC, and NP-C SI prediction scores were determined in a second group of patients between May 2012 and Apr 2014 (Period 2), and NPC1 and NPC2 were sequenced only in those with elevated ChT and/or elevated CCL18/PARC and/or NP-C SI ≥70. Filipin staining and 7-ketocholesterol (7-KC) measurements were performed in all patients with NP-C gene mutations, where possible. In total across Periods 1 and 2, 10/236 (4%) patients had a confirmed diagnosis o NP-C based on gene sequencing (5/118 [4.2%] in each Period): all of these patients had two causal NPC1 mutations. Single mutant NPC1 alleles were detected in 8/236 (3%) patients, overall. Positive filipin staining results comprised three classical and five variant biochemical phenotypes. No NPC2 mutations were detected. All patients with NPC1 mutations had high ChT activity, high CCL18/PARC concentrations and/or NP-C SI scores ≥70. Plasma 7-KC was higher than control cut-off values in all patients with two NPC1 mutations, and in the majority of patients with single mutations. Family studies identified three further NP-C patients. This approach may be very useful for laboratories that do not have mass spectrometry facilities and therefore, they cannot use other NP-C biomarkers for diagnosis