Designing and Testing an Experimental Framework of Affective Intelligent Agents in Healthcare Training Simulations

A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements of the University of Wolverhampton for the degree of Doctor of PhilosophyThe purpose of this study is to investigate how emotionally enabled virtual agents (VAs) in healthcare provision training simulations allow for a more effective level of understanding on how an emotionally enhanced scenario can affect different aspects of learning. This is achieved by developing virtual agents that respond to the user’s emotions and personality. The developed system also provides visual and auditory representations of the virtual agents’ state of mind. To enable the fulfilment of this purpose an experimental framework for incorporating emotional enhancements (concentrating on negative emotions such as stress, fear, and anxiety) into virtual agents in virtual training applications for healthcare provision is designed and implemented. The framework for incorporating emotional enhancements is designed based on previous research, on psychological theories (with input by experienced psychologists) and from input of experts in the area of healthcare provision. For testing the framework and answering the research question of this thesis the researcher conducted nine case studies. The participants were nursing students in the area of healthcare provision, and more specifically in the area of mental health, specialising in caring for patients with dementia. The results of the study showed that the framework and its implementation succeeded in providing a realistic learning experience, stimulated a better set of responses from the user, improved their level of understanding on how an emotionally enhanced scenario can affect the learning experience and helped them become more empathetic towards the person they cared for

Evaluation of the Importance of Time-Frequency Contributions to Speech Intelligibility in Noise

Recent studies on binary masking techniques make the assumption that each time-frequency (T-F) unit contributes an equal amount to the overall intelligibility of speech. The present study demonstrated that the importance of each T-F unit to speech intelligibility varies in accordance with speech content. Specifically, T-F units are categorized into two classes, speech-present T-F units and speech-absent T-F units. Results indicate that the importance of each speech-present T-F unit to speech intelligibility is highly related to the loudness of its target component, while the importance of each speech-absent T-F unit varies according to the loudness of its masker component. Two types of mask errors are also considered, which include miss and false alarm errors. Consistent with previous work, false alarm errors are shown to be more harmful to speech intelligibility than miss errors when the mixture signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) is below 0 dB. However, the relative importance between the two types of error is conditioned on the SNR level of the input speech signal. Based on these observations, a mask-based objective measure, the loudness weighted hit-false, is proposed for predicting speech intelligibility. The proposed objective measure shows significantly higher correlation with intelligibility compared to two existing mask-based objective measures

Interactive Reading Using Low Cost Brain Computer Interfaces

This work shows the feasibility for document reader user applications using a consumer grade non-invasive BCI headset. Although Brain Computer Interface (BCI) type devices are beginning to aim at the consumer level, the level at which they can actually detect brain activity is limited. There is however progress achieved in allowing for interaction between a human and a computer when this interaction is limited to around 2 actions. We employed the Emotiv Epoc, a low-priced BCI headset, to design and build a proof-of-concept document reader system that allows users to navigate the document using this low cast BCI device. Our prototype has been implemented and evaluated with 12 participants who were trained to navigate documents using signals acquired by Emotive Epoc

Older Adults “Jump” into coDesiging a Digital Game:A Field Study

The aim of this paper is to contribute to establishing practices to in- volve adults aged 50 and over in the design of digital games within the paradigm of active ageing. This paper focuses on a component of a larger project entitled SERIOUSGIGGLE integrated in the SEDUCE 2.0 research that enabled to develop the digital game JUMP that goes beyond illness recovery or skill maintenance, addressing active ageing. Using a Participatory Action Qualitative Re- search that deployed 64-session group discussions and participant observation of 33 learners at a Portuguese University of the Third Age, the necessary course of actions to involve the end-users in game design were identified. Results suggest four phases: 1. Validate the content and the materials that will be used during coDesign with experts in the area, using the Delphi method; 2. Carry out the activities in the end-user’s places; 3. Design the game tool based on the end-users’ context and the content validated by the experts during the previous phases; and 4. Validate the game-based product with the end-users. Literature is still scarce in giving standards for designing digital games for active ageing and most of the solutions on the market tend to focus on health and rehabilitation rather than on other dimensions, such as security and social participation.This work was supported by the research project SEDUCE 2.0 - Use of Communication and Information in the miOne online community by senior citizens, which includes the SERIOUSGIGGLE project and the game JUMP. The SEDUCE 2.0 project is funded by FCT – Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, I.P., COMPETE 2020, Portugal 2020 and European Union, under the European Regional Development Fund, POCI-01-0145-FEDER-031696 SEDUCE 2.0.publishe

Scaffolding in Indoor and Outdoor Mobility a Wearable and Mobile Application for Senior Tourism in a Playable City

The growth of urban population and the challenges of an ageing society have brought to the fore the need of innovative ways to re-invent sustainable healthy ageing lifestyles and meet the growing demand on transport and residents’ assistance with ageing-in-place. Fatalities involving older adult pedestrians is a major problem in EU urban areas, given the general lack of information about traffic and road conditions. Indoor and Outdoor Mobility are also likely to affect Senior Tourism and older adults’ travel patterns. This paper proposes a digital application designed for wearables and mobile devices that engages the users in a set of missions and routes that are customized to their context and mobility condition, based on a multi-peer review system.This work was supported by FCT (Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia) and ESF under Community Support Framework III – the project SEDUCE 2.0 nr. POCI-01-0145-FEDER- 031696.publishe