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The paper describes the design case of an accessible handweaving loom that allows people with different disabilities, including cognitive and sensorial disabilities, to weave independently, promoting self-expression and stimulating creativity. The project developed through an intense phase of prototyping activities, resulting in the re-design of a handweaving loom enhanced and transformed through rapid prototyping using digital fabrication technology. People with various types of disabilities, their caregivers and weaving experts were engaged in a series of participatory design workshops focused on eliciting requirements and desires and inspiring the design process. Throughout the project and in the attempt to integrate some automation in the weaving process, a number of issues emerged regarding how to balance flexibility and guidance to support the creative process without constraining it. The discussion of the design case offers a contribution on design for accessibility and a concrete case to reflect on the importance of supporting and stimulating self-expression and creativity in people with special needs. The paper concludes with design recommendations to accommodate needs of people with disabilities which range from functional and instrumental needs, to experiential needs including aesthetics, self-expression and creativity which are usually overlooked in accessibility guidelines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The overall trend toward globalization in design, greatly enhanced by digital technologies, has raised issues and challenges on how to preserve the cultural differences and values of different societies. There is a tendency to lose touch with local cultural values when designing artefacts for global use, and social nuances and traditions risk to be flattened or stereotyped in the pursuit of developing new technologies and products for the global society. Attempts to reduce the tension between the global and the local in design can be seen in the development of standards and guidelines for cross-cultural design, that are mostly focused on (online) user interface design. However, when moving from preferences, metaphors, appearance, and navigation toward cultural models of interaction and physical design, new methodologies and tools for cross-cultural design are needed. This paper describes a poetry-inspired design method for cross-cultural sharing within the design process. The approach uses poetry to sensitize the designer to the subtleties and diversity of a (new or known) culture so that the design can be given new aesthetic and cultural significance. The methodology is exemplified by actual design cases developed within the course "Cultural Sensitivity" of the Master's Degree Program in Industrial Design at Eindhoven University of Technology, where poetry was used for uncovering underlying or implicit assumptions, intercultural differences and similarities, as well as for general sensitization of young designers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The potential of service robots for seniors is given increasing attention as the ageing population in Western countries will continue to grow as well as the demand for home care. In order to capture the experience of living with a robot at home, a multi-perspective evaluation was conducted. Methods: Older adults (n = 10) were invited to execute an actual interaction scenario with the Care-O-bot® robot in a home-like environment and were questioned about their experiences. Additionally, interviews were conducted with the elderly participants, informal carers (n = 7) and professional caregivers (n = 11). Results: Seniors showed to be more keen to accept the robot than their caregivers and relatives. However, the robot in its current form was found to be too limited and participants wished the robot could perform more complex tasks. In order to be acceptable a future robot should execute these complex tasks based on the personal preferences of the user which would require the robot to be flexible and extremely smart, comparable to the care that is delivered by a human carer. Conclusions: Developing the functional features to perform activities is not the only challenge in robot development that deserves the attention of robot developers. The development of social behaviour and skills should be addressed as well. This is possible adopting a person-centred design approach, which relies on validation activities with actual users in realistic environments, similar to those described in this paper. Implications for rehabilitation: Attitude of older adults towards service robots Potential of service robotsfor older adults [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The issue of the periodical presents selected highlights from ECCE 2021, the 32nd European Conference on Cognitive Ergonomics. It mentions that the conference is the annual event of the European Association of Cognitive Ergonomics (EACE), a leading conference on human-media interaction that provides an opportunity for researchers and practitioners to exchange new ideas and practical experiences for a variety of domains.

This paper outlines the use of modular robotics to encourage and facilitate nonverbal communication during therapeutic intervention in dementia care. A set of new socially interactive modular robotic devices called rolling pins (RPs) has been designed and developed to assist the therapist in interacting with dementia-affected patients. The RPs are semitransparent plastic tubes that are capable of measuring their orientation and the speed of their rotation; at a local level, they have three types of feedback: red, green, and blue light, sound, and vibration. The peculiarity of the RPs is that they are able to communicate with each other or with other devices equipped with the same radio communication technology. The RPs are usually used in pairs, as the local feedback of an RP can be set depending not only on its own speed and orientation but also on the speed and the orientation of the peer RP. The system is not used as a therapeutic tool per se but as a facilitator and a mediator of social dynamics during normal therapy to counteract social isolation that can result in dementia through the loss of social skills. An experiment is reported that shows that by using the RPs, the patients participated in the activity by coordinating their behavior with the therapist and imitating the same interaction patterns generated by the therapist. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper provides a nuanced perspective on the topic of user-centred design (UCD) in the human–computer interaction (HCI) field. After a brief outline of its emergence, we describe some of the central tenets of the approach, using the process model of Gulliksen et al. ( Behav Inf Technol 22(6):397–409, ) as a well-documented exemplar. We then examine in more detail some of the difficulties one can encounter in performing user-centred design (UCD), illuminating these issues through vignettes from specific projects in which we have been involved. In this paper, we focus on issues that can arise in working with children and with people of differing mental abilities. Our argument is that, while a user-centred perspective is required at all times in the design team, the forms of participation of users in the design process needs to fit the context and can vary significantly from that presented as the prototypical UCD approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many people are currently working in call centres and much more are expected to work in them in the near future. Call centres are, in a sense, 'modern factories' where services are delivered through information and communication technologies. The human activity within the dynamic and articulated reality of such work settings offers new challenges for cognitive ergonomics. Indeed, work in call centres has to be conceptualized in terms of distributed knowledge. This means that only part of the knowledge needed to carry out any transaction is (or rather has to be) in the mind of the operator; relevant knowledge may be distributed among colleagues in the organization, available and accessible cognitive artefacts in the work environment, and clients. This paper discusses the potential contribution that human factors and cognitive ergonomics can provide in tackling the new and old problems that emerge in organizations where knowledge is an asset. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Collective or social memories are not just a way for accumulating and preserving but also for sharing and developing knowledge. Indeed, as knowledge is made explicit and elaborated by a community, it enriches the local culture and the current practices, becoming a basis for communication and learning. This paper addresses the concept of 'social memory' in a specific 'community of practice': teachers and students of primary schools. The work is developed within HIPS1 (Hyper Interaction within Physical Space), a three-year (1997-2000) research project funded by the European Commission within the I[sup 3] (I-Cube) Programme. HIPS is a hand-held location-aware tourist guide that delivers information related to the surrounding space mainly reacting to the physical movements of visitors (Benelli et al. 1999). The guide is designed to minimize the boundary between the physical space and the related information through a number of situated and contextual-aware interaction mechanisms. In the paper we present a specific application of HIPS as tool to support the creation of a social memory. First, we illustrate the theoretical framework, the cultural psychology (Vygotsky 1978), which we adopted to design the tool as an external aid for social memory. Afterwards we describe the user study and the design process that resulted in the development of an early prototype. The conclusions are a reflection about the use of new technology to open new learning opportunities for students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to improve fit and comfort, a maxillary protraction facemask customized to the patient's anatomy was produced by means of 3D face scanning, digital design and additive manufacturing. An 8-year-old patient in need of early treatment for the Class III malocclusion received a rapid palatal expander and a Petit-type facemask, whose components were digitally designed on a 3D scan of the patient's face. For face scanning, the iPad Pro 2018 tablet (Apple, Cupertino, CA, USA) with the Bellus3D DentalPro application (Bellus3D, Campbell, CA, USA) was used. Facemask components were modelled with 3D Blender software. The rests were 3D printed in BioMed Clear biocompatible resin (Formlabs, Somerville, MA, USA), and the bar in stainless steel. For greater comfort, the internal surface of the rests was lined with a polymer gel pad (Silipos, Niagara Falls, NY, USA). The manufacturing procedure of the customized facemask is patented. The patient wore the facemask at night for a period of 9 months. The patient's experience was evaluated with a questionnaire at 1 week, 3, 6, and 10 months of treatment. The customized facemask was well accepted by the patient and obtained the expected treatment outcome. Furthermore, 3D face scanning, 3D modelling and 3D printing allow for the manufacturing of customized facemasks with improved fit and comfort, favoring patient compliance and treatment success. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Highlights increasing interest in combining interactive technology with food, called human-food interaction (HFI). • Presents a set of next steps for human-food interaction (HFI) for a more fully developed HFI research agenda. • Presents Grand Challenges in human-food interaction (HFI). • The articulation of Grand Challenges can help researchers move the human-food interaction (HFI) research field forward. There is an increasing interest in combining interactive technology with food, leading to a new research area called human-food interaction. While food experiences are increasingly benefiting from interactive technology, for example in the form of food tracking apps, 3D-printed food and projections on dining tables, a more systematic advancement of the field is hindered because, so far, there is no comprehensive articulation of the grand challenges the field is facing. To further and consolidate conversations around this topic, we invited 21 HFI experts to a 5-day seminar. The goal was to review our own and prior work to identify the grand challenges in human-food interaction. The result is an articulation of 10 grand challenges in human-food interaction across 4 categories (technology, users, design and ethics). By presenting these grand challenges, we aim to help researchers move the human-food interaction research field forward. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) - based applications and services are no more a remote possibility but an economic and social opportunity. Apart from the legislative changes needed to make urban drone-based applications feasible, it is essential to ensure the efficient and safe operation of UAV fleets within a restrictive and complex operating area. All in all, the compiled articles show the evolution of some hot topics in nowadays research related to drones and drone-enabled systems. [Extracted from the article]

BACKGROUND: Play is essential for children's development. Children with severe physical disabilities often experience problems engaging in play. In rehabilitation and special education for children with physical disabilities play-like activities and play for play's sake are important. OBJECTIVE: The current study aimed at examining the possibilities of using the IROMEC robot in rehabilitation and special education for children with severe physical disabilities. METHODS: A mixed methods approach, using individual interviews, two rounds of focus group interviews, a questionnaire and a final session to reach consensus, was used to examine the match between the goals in therapy and special education and the IROMEC robot. RESULTS: The existing play scenarios of IROMEC have the potential to support play for children with severe physical disabilities, especially in the domains of movement functions, learning and applying knowledge, communication/interpersonal interactions and relationships, and play. CONCLUSIONS: The current study helped to build a body of evidence to the possibilities of the IROMEC robot. The results of this study can be used to further develop meaningful robotic play interventions for children with severe physical disabilities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This article describes the user-centred development of play scenarios for robot assisted play, as part of the multidisciplinary IROMEC 1 [1] The work described in this article is conducted within the EU project IROMEC (Interactive Robotic Social Mediators as Companions) and was co-funded by the European Commission in the 6th Framework Program under contract IST-FP6-045356. project that develops a novel robotic toy for children with special needs. The project investigates how robotic toys can become social mediators, encouraging children with special needs to discover a range of play styles, from solitary to collaborative play (with peers, carers/teachers, parents, etc.). This article explains the developmental process of constructing relevant play scenarios for children with different special needs. Results are presented from consultation with panel of experts (therapists, teachers, parents) who advised on the play needs for the various target user groups and who helped investigate how robotic toys could be used as a play tool to assist in the children’s development. Examples from experimental investigations are provided which have informed the development of scenarios throughout the design process. We conclude by pointing out the potential benefit of this work to a variety of research projects and applications involving human–robot interactions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]