Virtual Assistants for End-User Development in the Internet of Things

The spread of Virtual Assistants (software and hardware) on the consumer market deeply changed the way Internet of Things (IoT) is implemented and used today. Such devices, and related applications, are becoming more and more integrated within smart environments and this might pave the way to potential new approaches to End-User Development activities, which can be performed in IoT environments. This paper discusses the evolution of the IoT ecosystem definition that has been studied by the authors in the last years

Classification of Polarimetric SAR Data Using Dictionary Learning

End-user development (EUD) research has yielded a variety of novel environments and techniques, often accompanied by lab-based usability studies that test their effectiveness in the completion of representative real-world tasks. While lab studies play an important role in resolving frustrations and demonstrating the potential of novel tools, they are insufficient to accurately determine the acceptance of a technology in its intended context of use, which is highly dependent on the diverse and dynamic requirements of its users, as we show here. As such, usability in the lab is unlikely to represent usability in the field. To demonstrate this, we first describe the results of a think-aloud usability study of our EUD tool “Jeeves”, followed by two case studies where Jeeves was used by psychologists in their work practices. Common issues in the artificial setting were seldom encountered in the real context of use, which instead unearthed new usability issues through unanticipated user needs. We conclude with considerations for usability evaluation of EUD tools that enable development of software for other users, including planning for collaborative activities, supporting developers to evaluate their own tools, and incorporating longitudinal methods of evaluation.Postprin

Specification of Complex Logical Expressions for Task Automation: An EUD Approach

The growing availability of smart objects is stimulating researchers in investigating the IoT phenomenon from different perspectives. In the HCI area, and in particular from the EUD perspective, one prominent goal is to enable nontechnical users to be directly involved in configuring smart object behaviour. With this respect, this paper discusses three visual composition techniques to specify logical expressions in Event-Condition-Action rules used for synchronizing the behavior of smart objects

My IoT Puzzle: Debugging IF-THEN Rules Through the Jigsaw Metaphor

End users can nowadays define applications in the format of IF-THEN rules to personalize their IoT devices and online services. Along with the possibility to compose such applications, however, comes the need to debug them, e.g., to avoid unpredictable and dangerous behaviors. In this context, different questions are still unexplored: which visual languages are more appropriate for debugging IF-THEN rules? Which information do end users need to understand, identify, and correct errors? To answer these questions, we first conducted a literature analysis by reviewing previous works on end-user debugging, with the aim of extracting design guidelines. Then, we developed My IoT Puzzle, a tool to compose and debug IF-THEN rules based on the Jigsaw metaphor. My IoT Puzzle interactively assists users in the debugging process with different real-time feedback, and it allows the resolution of conflicts by providing textual and graphical explanations. An exploratory study with 6 participants preliminary confirms the effectiveness of our approach, showing that the usage of the Jigsaw metaphor, along with real-time feedback and explanations, helps users understand and fix conflicts among IF-THEN rules

Design for Mobile Mental Health:An Exploratory Review

A large number of mobile mental health apps are available to the public but current knowledge about requirements of designing such solutions is scarce, especially from sociotechnical and user centred points of view. Due to the significant role of mobile apps in the mental health service models, identifying the design requirements of mobile mental health solutions is crucial. Some of those requirements have been addressed individually in the literature, but there are few research studies that show a comprehensive picture of this domain. This exploratory review aims to facilitate such holistic understanding. The main search keywords of the review were identified in a cross-disciplinary requirements workshop. The search was started by finding some core references in the healthcare databases. A wider range of references then has been explored using a snowball method. Findings showed that there is a good understanding of individual design requirements in current literature but there are few examples of implementing a combination of different design requirements in real world products. The design processes specifically developed for mobile mental health apps are also rare. Most studies on operational mobile mental health apps address major mental health issues while prevention and wellbeing areas are underdeveloped. In conclusion, the main recommendations for designing future mobile mental health solutions include: moving towards sociotechnical and open design strategies, understanding and creating shared value, recognizing all dimensions of efficacy, bridging design and medical research and development, and considering an ecosystem perspective

End-User Development in Industry 4.0: Challenges and Opportunities

This position paper aims to discuss challenges and opportunities related to human-computer interaction technologies for Industry 4.0 and to explore the role that end-user development can play in new industrial scenarios. The paper highlights the gap between what Industry 4.0 and related enabling technologies promise and how the Operator 4.0 will be called on to change his/her work practice. End-user development and meta-design are here proposed as suitable methods to fill this gap and improve operators’ quality of work

ESISTE: Supporting Inclusion of Students with Special Needs in Mainstream Classrooms

This chapter presents the outcomes of the first stage of ESISTE (Expert System Interaction Structured To Education), an interdisciplinary research project aimed at designing and developing an interactive system for the management of ICF-CY classification (International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health \u2013 Children and Youth) in primary, secondary, and higher education levels in Italy. The goal of the project is to enable the inclusion in the education system of students with special needs involving in the process their teachers, family members, close friends, healthcare professionals and other stakeholders

ESISTE: Supporting Inclusion of Students with Special Needs in Mainstream Classrooms

Part 1: PracticeInternational audienceThis chapter presents the outcomes of the first stage of ESISTE (Expert System Interaction Structured To Education), an interdisciplinary research project aimed at designing and developing an interactive system for the management of ICF-CY classification (International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health – Children and Youth) in primary, secondary, and higher education levels in Italy. The goal of the project is to enable the inclusion in the education system of students with special needs involving in the process their teachers, family members, close friends, healthcare professionals and other stakeholders

End-User Development in Speech Therapies: A Scenario in the Smart Home Domain

Smart home systems allow the connection and the communication between different Internet of Things devices under the same environment. Those are commonly used to support people in their daily life, but most of them have more than just “leisure or fun” purposes. As a matter of fact, if correctly configured, the smart home and all the devices connected to it, can assist people in medical contexts. In this paper we propose a scenario where the smart home acts as active supporter and as an “emotion generator” for children with speech problems and that follow a specific speech therapy. As a matter of fact, emotions and speech capabilities are strictly connected in babies and young boys. The smart home environment can orchestrate the global devices functioning and improve the children emotional involvement in such therapy. On the other side, the speech therapist, through the EUD, can organize the smart home behaviour to better support the child