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Objective The possibility of combining real and virtual environments is driving the increased use of augmented reality (AR) in education, including medical training. The aim of this multicentre study was to evaluate the students' perspective on the AR-based Rheumality GO!® app as a new teaching concept, presenting six real anonymized patient cases with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), psoriatic arthritis (PsA) and axial spondyloarthritis (axSpA). Methods The study encompassed 347 undergraduate medical students (232 women and 115 men) from four medical universities in Germany (Jena, Bad Nauheim/Gießen, Nuremberg, Erlangen). The course was divided into a theoretical refresher lecture followed by six AR-based cases in each of the three indications presented in the Rheumality GO! app. All participants evaluated the course after completion, assessing the benefit of the app from a student's perspective using a questionnaire with 16 questions covering six subject areas. Results The use of the AR-based app Rheumality GO! improved the understanding of pathologies in RA, PsA and axSpA for 99% of the participants. For 98% of respondents, the concept of AR with real patient data has made a positive impact on the teaching environment. On the other hand, 82% were in favour of the use of virtual tools (e.g. AR) in addition to this conventional approach. Conclusion The results of our survey showed that from the medical students' perspective, an AR-based concept like the Rheumality GO! app can complement rheumatology teaching in medical school as an effective and attractive tool though not replace bedside teaching. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The inspection, analysis, and modification of robot programs in series production processes is a challenging recurring task in the automotive industry. Especially the holistic analysis of detected defects and the subsequent derivation and application of corrective measures to the underlying robot program is a complex task requiring extensive knowledge in multiple fields. Existing scientific literature has demonstrated that the utilisation of Augmented Reality (AR) assisted robot programming systems (ARRPS) improves programming efficiency as well as intuitiveness when compared to traditional programming methods. However, the accuracy especially of mobile AR devices limits the applicability of AR in industrial applications. We propose to leverage the iterative nature of the optimisation process common in series production and utilise the visual capabilities of the human worker to define corrective measures based on the inspected real process result. This mitigates the impact of limited tracking accuracy as the optimisation is based on the visual perception of the user and thus decoupled from the accuracy of the employed AR device. We implemented our system based on the requirements of a sealing workstation of the Mercedes-Benz Group in Germany. A conducted experiment validates the functionality and indicates that the presented strategy of iterative AR assisted robot programming enables optimisations with a similar accuracy as the Teach-In programming as well as a significantly reduced programming time. This suggests that utilising an ARRPS can be highly beneficial in the inspection, analysis, and modification of sealing applications common in automotive series production processes. As the presented iterative AR assisted robot programming is neither limited to sealing nor to the automotive sector it can be adapted for various robot-automated applications like path-welding, gluing, or painting and can extend its utility to related sectors such as aviation or the marine industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Leading a socially engaged life is beneficial for the well-being of older adults. Immersive technologies, such as augmented reality (AR), have the potential to provide more engaging and vivid communication experiences compared to conventional digital tools. This qualitative study adopts a human-centered approach to discern the general attitudes and specific requirements of older adults regarding interpersonal communication facilitated by AR. We conducted semi-structured individual interviews with a sample of N = 30 older adults from Germany. During the interviews, participants evaluated storyboard illustrations depicting a fictional AR-enabled communication scenario centered around a grandparent and their adult grandchildren, which were represented as avatars within the AR environment. The study identified technological, emotional, social, and administrative requirements of older adults regarding the AR communication system. Based on these findings, we provide practical recommendations aimed at more inclusive technology design, emphasizing the significance of addressing the emotional needs of older adults, especially the perceived intimacy of AR-based interpersonal communication. Acknowledging and catering to these emotional needs is crucial, as it impacts the adoption of immersive technologies and the realization of their social benefits. This study contributes to the development of user-friendly AR systems that effectively promote and foster social engagement among older adults. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The digitalization of everyday school life has gained increasing importance for teachers in recent years. In Germany, this is especially true since the publication of the strategy on "Education in the Digital World" by the Standing Conference of the Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs of the Länder in 2016, which calls for the acquisition of digital competencies by students. In this regard, it is of great importance that future teachers acquire important skills in the field of digitalization during their teacher training in order to effectively and pedagogically use digital media in instruction. In this paper, we present the concept of an intervention on the topic of "Simulation and Modeling" from the competency framework DiKoLAN, which provides possible guidance in relation to the question "which competencies in the field of digitalization should be taught during teacher training?" One focus of the presented concept is the technology of "Augmented Reality," which has already been described as an effective teaching and learning tool. Furthermore, evaluation results of the seminar are presented, which examine both the effectiveness in terms of conveying the desired competencies through the measurement of self-efficacy expectations, and the attitudes of the pre-service teachers towards the use of AR in science education. The evaluation of the intervention measure shows a significant increase in pre-service teachers' self-efficacy expectations across all areas of competencies to be taught, as well as a significantly more positive attitude towards the use of AR in science teaching. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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During crisis situations, emergency operators require fast information access to achieve situation awareness and make the best possible decisions. Augmented reality could be used to visualize the wealth of user-generated content available on social media and enable context-adaptive functions for emergency operators. Although emergency operators agree that social media analytics will be important for their future work, it poses a challenge to filter and visualize large amounts of social media data. We conducted a goal-directed task analysis to identify the situation awareness requirements of emergency operators. By collecting tweets during two storms in Germany we evaluated the usefulness of Twitter data for achieving situation awareness and conducted interviews with emergency operators to derive filter strategies for social media data. We synthesized the results by discussing how the unique interface of augmented reality can be used to integrate social media data into emergency control rooms for situation awareness support. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Augmented Reality (AR) is a technology that has benefited from the massification of computational devices, putting it in the focus of researchers as a novel teaching aid in engineering. For this very reason, a great amount of information about AR in engineering education is emerging constantly. To synthesize the information, a Systematic Literature Review (SLR) was carried out and 4 research questions were raised. It was found out the researcher´s trend for the development and testing of software that takes advantage of AR for engineering students. It was also found that Germany and India are the leading nations on investigations about the investigated topic. On the software side, Unity is the most used tool for creating applications and that the target hardware is smartphone. Finally, the high interest of researchers to increase motivation in students is evidenced in this SLR and recommendations were made based on the researcher’s findings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Media companies often fail to successfully adopt emergent technology-driven media innovations. In order to analyse the pitfalls of implementation and to identify media-organisation-specific weaknesses, eleven cases from the media and manufacturing industries in Germany that adopted XR (which encompasses virtual, mixed and augmented reality technology) were compared. Several organisational drivers were especially important for successful adoption such as top management support, existence of an innovation champion, fit with the company/innovation strategy, cooperation with internal IT and long-term planning for the build-up of sustainable expertise within the companies. Whereas the media firms profited in some regards from their editorial background (i.e., high motivation of the projects' innovation champions), the lack of strategic planning and limited internal IT resources were found to hamper a successful adoption. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Digitalization is changing medicine. In Germany these changes are not highly accepted yet. Medical pathways should be supported and become safer by digital transformation. Furthermore, artificial intelligence (AI) applications are increasingly used in medicine. Only time will tell whether these will decrease the workload and make patient treatment easier, while increasing precision and individualization.. Urology must accept the upcoming new challenges. This can best be done by participating in the development., (© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Medizin Verlag GmbH, ein Teil von Springer Nature.)

Participants: A. Baumeister (GERMANY), J. Bleja (Germany), B. Klein (Germany), A. Kucharski (GERMANY) S. MERKEL (GERMANY), M. Ringwald (GERMANY), B. KLEIN (discussant) ISSUE: The session circles around new technologies that have gained increasing relevance for the field of gerontechnology. It follows the idea that these new technologies ask for new theories and methods not only to understand their technical functionality but also social aspects and consequences. Applying theories and methods of social sciences, sciences, and technology studies (STS) and media studies, the session follows an interdisciplinary approach. CONTENT: The symposium brings together research and evidence of the German speaking chapters of the ISG (Austria, Germany, and Switzerland) and covers a broad spectrum of recent developments. STRUCTURE: Alexander Kucharski shares insights from an exploratory study on the domestication of smart speakers by older persons in Germany. Drawing on seven case studies he explores perspectives of older smart speaker users on their real-world domestication processes of smart speakers to understand how older users negotiate(d) the appropriation, meaning and (non)-use of smart speakers and its contents/applications within their individual socio-technical contexts, i.e. life-worlds. Sebastian Merkel also deals with the topic of smart speakers by focusing on applications or so-called skills and images of ageing. He concludes that most skills addressed at older persons rather emphasize deficit-oriented/medicalized images of aging and hence user representations. J. Bleja reports on the development of a chatbot operated via smart speakers for care consultation. As a first task expert interviews have been carried out. The results indicate potential use cases, support of the anamnesis procedure being one of them. In the next two contributions, the focus is on assistive robotics. Annalies Baumeister presents a project to improve the use of a robotic arm for people with little or no arm function by an adaptive AI-based control system. In Workshops and interviews with the user groups everyday scenarios were identified which can improve significantly by this new way of user-robot-interaction. Key factor for acceptance is the embodiment of robots. Marina Ringwald presents the interdisciplinary development of an embodiment utilizing participatory design with older people as potential user group. Design options are realized in 3D models in augmented reality and evaluated in an iterative approach before a physical prototype is produced. Finally, Barbara Klein addresses the need to train professionals in the health and social care sector in these assistive digital technologies by presenting a certification course developed by a consortium of twelve partner in a European project. The materials will help professionals learn about and further communicate new solutions to support the independence and self-determination of their clients and beneficiaries. CONCLUSION: Consequently, it is argued that gerontechnology benefits from a closer cooperation and knowledge exchange of interdisciplinary research teams including professionals and user groups. Participatory design and involving older users and other stakeholders are key elements, but still more research is needed, especially when utilizing new methods such as augmented reality in the design and development processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Intraaxial tumors of the central lobe are challenging lesions to deal with because of the high eloquence of this anatomic area. 1,2 Diffusion tensor imaging magnetic resonance imaging and fluorescein (F) have proven to be useful in the planning and execution, respectively of glioma surgery. 3-9 Nevertheless, the advantages of intraoperative use of augmented reality (AR) with diffusion tensor imaging−based high-definition fiber tractography (HDFT) are still underestimated. In the AR HDFT-F technique reported by our group, the integration of AR into the microscope comes through the BrainLAB Curve navigation platform (BrainLAB AG, Munich Germany), Smartbrush software (BrainLAB AG), KINEVO 900 surgical microscope (Carl Zeiss, Oberkochen, Germany), and YELLOW 560 filter (Carl Zeiss). 9 The microscope establishes a wired autodetection of the navigation platform, and the eyepiece functions as a "see-through display" of the AR images, which are overlapped onto the surgical field. Video 1 shows the technical key aspects of the intraoperative use of the AR HDFT-F technique in the maximal safe anatomic resection of a postcentral gyrus high-grade glioma. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]