Quality of Privacy (QoP) for the Design of Ubiquitous Healthcare Applications

Privacy is a complex social process that will persist in one form or another as a fundamental feature of the substrate into which ubiquitous computing (ubicomp) is threaded. Hospitals are natural candidates for the deployment of ubicomp technology while at the same time face significant privacy requirements. To better understand the privacy issues related to the use of ubicomp we place our efforts in understanding the contextual information relevant to privacy and how its interplay shapes the perception of privacy in a hospital. The results indicate that hospital workers tend to manage privacy by assessing the value of the services provided by a ubicomp application and the amount of privacy they are willing to concede. For ubicomp applications to better deal with this issue we introduce the concept of Quality of Privacy (QoP) which allows balancing this trade-off in a similar way as that of Quality of Service (QoS) does for networking applications. We propose an architecture that allows designers to identify different levels of QoP based on the user's context. Finally, we identify the main privacy risks of a location-aware application and we extend its architecture exemplifying the use of QoP to manage those risks

BendableSound: a fabric-based interactive surface to promote free play in children with autism

Children with autism found free play difficult. Free play is important for children with autism to help them develop social, communication, and expression skills. Interactive surfaces (IS) offer a casual and natural collaborative and engaging experience adequate to promote free play for children with autism. In this poster, we present the design and development of BendableSound, a fabric-based IS that allows children play music when tapping and touching on digital elements appearing on top of the fabric. To design BendableSound, we followed a user-centered design process involving interviewing, observation, and design sessions with caregivers. We close discussing directions for future work

PaU: Diseño de un exergame en una superficie elástica para niños con autismo severo

Los niños con autismo severo tienen dificultades para controlar su fuerza al empujar objetos. Existe evidencia de que la repetición de movimientos de empuje usando diferentes niveles de fuerza pudiera mejorar el control de fuerza de niños con autismo. En este artículo se presentan el diseño de PaU (Push and Up) –un exergame en una superficie elástica para la práctica de movimientos de empuje de niños con autismo severo. Para diseñar PaU se siguió una metodología de diseño centrada en el usuario. Reflexionando en el proceso de diseño se propusieron tres implicaciones de diseño que pudieran ser de utilidad para otros investigadores interesados en diseñar exergames y superficies elásticas para niños con autismo severo. Se cierra este artículo discutiendo el trabajo a futuro y conclusiones

Multimedia Tools and Applications

BCI video games are making brain training increasingly popular and available; yet scientific evidence to support its efficacy is lacking. Real-life descriptions of BCI video games deploy- ments in concrete scenarios are urgently needed. In this paper, we report a use case of the development and pilot-testing of a BCI video game designed to support children with autism when attending to Neurofeedback training sessions, called FarmerKeeper. Caring for children with autism may impose new cognitive, motor, behavioral, and attention challenges that current solutions targeted for other populations may not address. The goal of the game is to maintain children’s attention above a threshold to control a runner who is seeking for lost farm animals. FarmerKeeper uses a consumer-grade BCI headset to read user’s attention. We evaluated FarmerKeeper’s usability and user experience through a 4-weeks deployment study with 12 children with autism. Our quantitative results show FarmerKeeper outperforms a commercial BCI video game used for neurofeedback training, and qualitatively, FarmerKeeper could successfully support children with autism when attending to neurofeedback training sessions by possibly improving their attention and reducing their anxiety. We close reflecting on our design aspects and discussing directions for future work.Multimedia Tools and Applicationshttps://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11042-018-6916-

Research in developmental disabilities

Aim To evaluate the efficacy of Neurologic Music Therapy (NMT) using a traditional and a technological intervention (elastic touch-display) in improving the coordination of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), as a primary outcome, and the timing and strength control of their movements as secondary outcomes. Methods Twenty-two children with ASD completed 8 NMT sessions, as a part of a 2-month intervention. Participants were randomly assigned to either use an elastic touch-display (experimental group) or tambourines (control group). We conducted pre- and post- assessment evaluations, including the Developmental Coordination Disorder Questionnaire (DCDQ) and motor assessments related to the control of strength and timing of movements. Outcomes and results All participants improved their coordination, according to the DCDQ scores, and exhibited better control of their movements according to the strength and timing assessments after the intervention. Participants who used the elastic touch-display scored higher on the DCDQ. Conclusions and implications NMT is an efficacious treatment to improve the coordination skills of children with ASD. Elastic touch-displays provide more benefits than the use of tambourines.Research in developmental disabilitieshttps://doi.org/10.1016/j.ridd.2020.10374