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The use of Augmented Reality glasses opens up many possibilities in hospital care, as they facilitate treatments and their documentation. In this paper, we present a prototype for the HoloLens 2 supporting wound care and documentation. It was developed in a participatory process with nurses using the positive computing paradigm, with a focus on the improvement of the working conditions of nursing staff. In a qualitative study with 14 participants, the factors of autonomy, competence and connectedness were examined in particular. It was shown that good individual adaptability and flexibility of the system with respect to the work task and personal preferences lead to a high degree of autonomy. The availability of the right information at the right time strengthens the feeling of competence. On the one hand, the connection to patients is increased by the additional information in the glasses, but on the other hand, it is hindered by the unusual appearance of the device and the lack of eye contact. In summary, the potential of Augmented Reality glasses in care was confirmed, and approaches for a well-being-centered system design were identified but, at the same time, a number of future research questions, including the effects on patients, were also identified.

The concept of Human-Robot Collaboration (HRC) describes innovative industrial work procedures, in which human staff works in close vicinity with robots on a shared task. Current HRC scenarios often deploy hand-guided robots or remote controls operated by the human collaboration partner. As HRC envisions active collaboration between both parties, ongoing research efforts aim to enhance the capabilities of industrial robots not only in the technical dimension but also in the robot’s socio-interactive features. Apart from enabling the robot to autonomously complete the respective shared task in conjunction with a human partner, one essential aspect lifted from the group collaboration among humans is the communication between both entities. State-of-the-art research has identified communication as a significant contributor to successful collaboration between humans and industrial robots. Non-verbal gestures have been shown to be contributing aspect in conveying the respective state of the robot during the collaboration procedure. Research indicates that, depending on the viewing perspective, the usage of non-verbal gestures in humans can impact the interpersonal attribution of certain characteristics. Applied to collaborative robots such as the Yumi IRB 14000, which is equipped with two arms, specifically to mimic human actions, the perception of the robots’ non-verbal behavior can affect the collaboration. Most important in this context are dominance emitting gestures by the robot that can reinforce negative attitudes towards robots, thus hampering the users’ willingness and effectiveness to collaborate with the robot. By using a 3 × 3 within-subjects design online study, we investigated the effect of dominance gestures (Akimbo, crossing arms, and large arm spread) working in a standing position with an average male height, working in a standing position with an average female height, and working in a seated position on the perception of dominance of the robot. Overall 115 participants (58 female and 57 male) with an average age of 23 years evaluated nine videos of the robot. Results indicated that all presented gestures affect a person’s perception of the robot in regards to its perceived characteristics and willingness to cooperate with the robot. The data also showed participants’ increased attribution of dominance based on the presented viewing perspective.

In this paper we present the results of a systematic review aimed at investigating what the literature reports on cyberbullying and cyberhate, whether and to what extent the connection between the two phenomena is made explicit, and whether it is possible to identify overlapping factors in the description of the phenomena. Specifically, for each of the 24 selected papers, we have identified the predictors of cyberbullying behaviors and the consequences of cyberbullying acts on the victims; the same analysis has been carried out with reference to cyberhate. Then, by comparing what emerged from the literature on cyberbullying with what emerged from the literature on cyberhate, we verify to what extent the two phenomena overlap in terms of predictors and consequences. Results show that the cyberhate issue related to adolescents is less investigated than cyberbullying, and most of the papers focusing on one of them do not refer to the other. Nevertheless, by comparing the predictors and outcomes of cyberbullying and cyberhate as reported in the literature, an overlap between the two concepts emerges, with reference to: the parent-child relationship to reduce the risk of cyber-aggression; the link between sexuality and cyber-attacks; the protective role of the families and of good quality friendship relationships; the impact of cyberbullying and cyberhate on adolescents' individuals' well-being and emotions; meaningful analogies between the coping strategies put in practice by victims of cyberbullying and cyberhate. We argue that the results of this review can stimulate a holistic approach for future studies on cyberbullying and cyberhate where the two phenomena are analyzed as two interlinked instances of cyber-aggression. Similarly, prevention and intervention programs on a responsible and safe use of social media should refer to both cyberbullying and cyberhate issues, as they share many predictors as well as consequences on adolescents' wellbeing, thus making it diminishing to afford them separately.Systematic Review Registrationhttp://www.crd.york.ac.uk/PROSPERO, identifier: CRD42021239461.

Technology assessment (TA) occurs in a variety of educational contexts, its content and methods can contribute to dealing with socially relevant issues from different perspectives across disciplinary boundaries. However, the transdisciplinarity of TA raises the question in which educational contexts TA perspectives are introduced and how educational processes can be effectively structured and strengthened. This issue therefore addresses both perspectives: practice in various trans- and interdisciplinary educational contexts, as well as TA’s own educational practice.

Technology assessment (TA) occurs in a variety of educational contexts, its content and methods can contribute to dealing with socially relevant issues from different perspectives across disciplinary boundaries. However, the transdisciplinarity of TA raises the question in which educational contexts TA perspectives are introduced and how educational processes can be effectively structured and strengthened. This issue therefore addresses both perspectives: practice in various trans- and interdisciplinary educational contexts, as well as TA’s own educational practice.

Human-Robot Collaboration (HRC) has the potential for a paradigm shift in industrial production by complementing the strengths of industrial robots with human staff. However, exploring these scenarios in physical experimental settings is costly and difficult, e.g., due to safety considerations. We present a virtual reality application that allows the exploration of HRC work arrangements with autonomous robots and their effect on human behavior. Prior experimental studies conducted using this application demonstrated the benefits of augmenting an autonomous robot arm with communication channels on subjective aspects such as perceived stress. Motivated by current safety regulations that hinder HRC to expand its full potential, we explored the effects of the augmented communication on objective measures (collision rate and produced goods) within a virtual sandbox application. Explored through a safe and replicable setup, the goal was to determine whether communication channels that provide guidance and explanation on the robot can help mitigate safety hazards without interfering with the production effectiveness of both parties. This is based on the theoretical foundation that communication channels enable the robot to explain its action, helps the human collaboration partner to comprehend the current state of the shared task better, and react accordingly. Focused on the optimization of production output, reduced collision rate, and increased perception of safety, a between-subjects experimental study with two conditions (augmented communication vs non-augmented) was conducted. The results revealed a statistically significant difference in terms of production quantity output and collisions with the robot, favoring the augmented conditions. Additional statistically significant differences regarding self-reported perceived safety were found. The results of this study provide an entry point for future research regarding the augmentation of industrial robots with communication channels for safety purposes.

Theoretical approaches as well as empirical results in the area of social capital accumulation on social networking sites suggest that weak ties/bridging versus strong ties/bonding social capital should be distinguished and that while bonding social capital is connected to emotional support, bridging social capital entails the provision of information. Additionally, recent studies imply the notion that weak ties/bridging social capital are gaining increasing importance in today’s social media environments. By means of a survey (N = 317) we challenged these presuppositions by assessing the social support functions that are ascribed to three different types of contacts from participants’ network (weak, medium, or strong tie). In contrast to theoretical assumptions, we do not find that weak ties are experienced to supply informational support whereas strong ties first and foremost provide emotional support. Instead we find that within social networking sites, strong ties are perceived to provide both emotional and informational support and weak ties are perceived as less important than recent literature assumes.