Understanding Complex Coordination Processes in Health Care

This paper identifies and analyses complex coordination processes at radiology departments in Austria1, Denmark, and Sweden. The understanding of coordination work is emphasised by focusing on different interdependencies between work activities. It illustrates that various interdependencies have different properties, which in turn have derived different coordination dimensions. We refer to these dimensions as predefined and situated coordination. This paper points to the needs for designing coordination tools inscribed with properties that fit the properties of various kinds of coordination work. Finally, ways of integrating these tools are discussed

Understanding Modelling Practices in Manufacturing

This paper is about describing and analysing modelling practices in automotive industry and electronics design. Based on ethnographic observations in modelling sessions in three case studies, we tried to describe the modelling scope in real work environments. This helped to identify problem areas or areas of change, articulation work in decision making activities during modelling, models as shared objects and issues of accessing the models by different communities of practice. The focus of our investigations was on a specific modelling environment called Active Knowledge Modelling (AKM)

State of the art of audio- and video based solutions for AAL

Working Group 3. Audio- and Video-based AAL ApplicationsIt is a matter of fact that Europe is facing more and more crucial challenges regarding health and social care due to the demographic change and the current economic context. The recent COVID-19 pandemic has stressed this situation even further, thus highlighting the need for taking action. Active and Assisted Living (AAL) technologies come as a viable approach to help facing these challenges, thanks to the high potential they have in enabling remote care and support. Broadly speaking, AAL can be referred to as the use of innovative and advanced Information and Communication Technologies to create supportive, inclusive and empowering applications and environments that enable older, impaired or frail people to live independently and stay active longer in society. AAL capitalizes on the growing pervasiveness and effectiveness of sensing and computing facilities to supply the persons in need with smart assistance, by responding to their necessities of autonomy, independence, comfort, security and safety. The application scenarios addressed by AAL are complex, due to the inherent heterogeneity of the end-user population, their living arrangements, and their physical conditions or impairment. Despite aiming at diverse goals, AAL systems should share some common characteristics. They are designed to provide support in daily life in an invisible, unobtrusive and user-friendly manner. Moreover, they are conceived to be intelligent, to be able to learn and adapt to the requirements and requests of the assisted people, and to synchronise with their specific needs. Nevertheless, to ensure the uptake of AAL in society, potential users must be willing to use AAL applications and to integrate them in their daily environments and lives. In this respect, video- and audio-based AAL applications have several advantages, in terms of unobtrusiveness and information richness. Indeed, cameras and microphones are far less obtrusive with respect to the hindrance other wearable sensors may cause to one’s activities. In addition, a single camera placed in a room can record most of the activities performed in the room, thus replacing many other non-visual sensors. Currently, video-based applications are effective in recognising and monitoring the activities, the movements, and the overall conditions of the assisted individuals as well as to assess their vital parameters (e.g., heart rate, respiratory rate). Similarly, audio sensors have the potential to become one of the most important modalities for interaction with AAL systems, as they can have a large range of sensing, do not require physical presence at a particular location and are physically intangible. Moreover, relevant information about individuals’ activities and health status can derive from processing audio signals (e.g., speech recordings). Nevertheless, as the other side of the coin, cameras and microphones are often perceived as the most intrusive technologies from the viewpoint of the privacy of the monitored individuals. This is due to the richness of the information these technologies convey and the intimate setting where they may be deployed. Solutions able to ensure privacy preservation by context and by design, as well as to ensure high legal and ethical standards are in high demand. After the review of the current state of play and the discussion in GoodBrother, we may claim that the first solutions in this direction are starting to appear in the literature. A multidisciplinary 4 debate among experts and stakeholders is paving the way towards AAL ensuring ergonomics, usability, acceptance and privacy preservation. The DIANA, PAAL, and VisuAAL projects are examples of this fresh approach. This report provides the reader with a review of the most recent advances in audio- and video-based monitoring technologies for AAL. It has been drafted as a collective effort of WG3 to supply an introduction to AAL, its evolution over time and its main functional and technological underpinnings. In this respect, the report contributes to the field with the outline of a new generation of ethical-aware AAL technologies and a proposal for a novel comprehensive taxonomy of AAL systems and applications. Moreover, the report allows non-technical readers to gather an overview of the main components of an AAL system and how these function and interact with the end-users. The report illustrates the state of the art of the most successful AAL applications and functions based on audio and video data, namely (i) lifelogging and self-monitoring, (ii) remote monitoring of vital signs, (iii) emotional state recognition, (iv) food intake monitoring, activity and behaviour recognition, (v) activity and personal assistance, (vi) gesture recognition, (vii) fall detection and prevention, (viii) mobility assessment and frailty recognition, and (ix) cognitive and motor rehabilitation. For these application scenarios, the report illustrates the state of play in terms of scientific advances, available products and research project. The open challenges are also highlighted. The report ends with an overview of the challenges, the hindrances and the opportunities posed by the uptake in real world settings of AAL technologies. In this respect, the report illustrates the current procedural and technological approaches to cope with acceptability, usability and trust in the AAL technology, by surveying strategies and approaches to co-design, to privacy preservation in video and audio data, to transparency and explainability in data processing, and to data transmission and communication. User acceptance and ethical considerations are also debated. Finally, the potentials coming from the silver economy are overviewed.publishedVersio

Cooperative work across cultural boundaries in systems design

This paper is concerned with heterogeneity and the notion of boundaries within systems design. It uses case study material to identify sources of heterogeneity and to understand how these are oriented to within the practicalities of design work. A key concept for analysing work practices is the notion of place. The paper analyses the qualities of the places in which design work takes place (regionalisation, neutrality, specificity) and explores in how far these places allow membership in multiple worlds

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Human Perception and Building Automation Systems

Building automation is concerned with closed- and open-loop control of building services such as heating, cooling, ventilation and air conditioning, lighting and shading. The ultimate goal is to reduce energy consumption while providing comfort for the occupants. However, ensuring human comfort is a complex affair. In case of dissatisfaction, users need to inform the building operators about apparently badly adjusted setpoints. Then, service units of the facility management have to manually analyze how to improve the situation. Due to the complex characteristics of human perception and derived feedback, this can become a troublesome and time-consuming task. This paper describes the main results of our investigations to improve occupant comfort in office buildings using environmental information monitored by a Wireless Sensor Network (WSN) and human perception collected from a feedback tool. A joint information base aligned with static data from building information modeling integrates the information gathered. Reasoning on these data sources allows adjustments of the Building Automation System (BAS) to automatically enhance the tenant’s comfort or suggest necessary adjustments for facility managers. Communication between the different system components is handled via Message Queuing Telemetry Transport (MQTT). A real-world field study shows the potential of the developed approach, proves its feasibility, and demonstrates the functionality of the feedback tool

Collaboration and coordination in the context of informal care (CCCiC 2014)

International audiencePast and current research studies recurrently acknowledge the relevance of technological developments to support informal caregivers with their activities and responsibilities. These studies highlight the demands associated with caregiving and suggest that further research in the area is needed to better understand such demands and to figure out more effective ways for technologies to support people who deal with them. In Europe, especial attention has been dedicated to informal caregivers for the past few years, due to indicators showing that more than 80% of the care for frail and old people, one of the major groups of care receivers in the region, is informally provided by family members and friends. The same scenario can be found across different continents, corroborating the relevance of the subject. Therefore, this workshop seeks contributions exploring issues of collaboration and coordination in the context of informal care. Early stage research studies in the area as well as contributions exploring the design and evaluation of computer technologies for it are most welcome