Introduction to this special issue on intelligent systems for people with diverse cognitive abilities

ABSTRACTThis special issue highlights state-of-the-art research in intelligent systems and technology for people with diverse abilities. To control scope, we pay particular attention to cognitive diversity, including but not limited to, neurodevelopmental disorders and autism, cognitive and learningdisabilities, and dementia. We introduce the papers in this special issue by contextualizing them according to different research areas. By curating leading-edge contributions in this area, we aim to raise awareness about research challenges and requirements inherent in the development and assessment of systems designed for these categories of users.KEYWORDS: Cognitive DisabilitiesNeurodevelopmental DisordersAutismDementiaIntelligent SystemsHuman-computer Interaction AcknowledgmentsWe extend our gratitude to all the authors who submitted proposals to this special issue. Moreover, we are thankful to the reviewers for dedicating their time and effort to provide constructive criticisms and valuable feedback during the review process. Finally, we would like to thank Steve Whittaker and Scott Carter, the current Editor and Administrative Editor, respectively, of the Human-Computer Interaction journal, and Sean Raney, from the Journal Editorial Office, for their guidance and support throughout our curation of this Special Issue.Disclosure statementNo potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).Additional informationNotes on contributorsNoemi MauroNoemi Mauro (noemi.mauro@unito.it, http://www.di.unito.it/~mauro/) is an Assistant Professor at the Computer Science Department of the University of Turin where she obtained a PhD in Computer Science with Honors. Her research interests concern user modeling, recommender systems, human-computer interaction, information filtering and information visualization.Federica CenaFederica Cena (federica.cena@unito.it, http://www.di.unito.it/~cena/) is an Associate Professor at the Computer Science Department of the University of Turin. She works on the intersection of Artificial Intelligence and Human-Computer Interaction. Her recent research has studied the implications of the Internet of Things for user modeling and personalization, with a special focus on assistive applications for cognitive disabilities and frailty.Cynthia PutnamCynthia Putnam (cputnam@depaul.edu, https://www.cyputnam.com/) is an Associate Professor in the College of Computing and Digital Media at DePaul University located in Chicago, Illinois. Currently, her research is focused on user experience (UX) practice to inform pedagogy. Recent work has focused on several areas concerned with diverse users, including: (1) helping therapists make decisions on game-based therapy for their patients with brain injuries, (2) exploring uses and desires of caretakers for software aimed at children with autism in their care, and (3) models for teaching accessibility in university classrooms.Maria Soledad PeraMaria Soledad Pera (M.S.Pera@tudelft.nl, https://solepera.github.io/) is an Associate Professor at the Web Information Systems group of the Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Science (EEMCS/EWI), at TU Delft. Her expertise is in Information Retrieval, focused on how technology can facilitate information access to specific user groups. Along with interdisciplinary academics and practitioners, she takes a human-driven approach to advance knowledge on the design, development, evaluation, and deployment of information access systems (search and recommendation) for often underserved populations, including children, teachers, as well as individuals who speak English as a second language, are affected by autism, or experience mental disorders.David Roldán ÁlvarezDavid Roldán Álvarez (david.roldan@urjc.es, https://gestion2.urjc.es/pdi/ver/david.roldan) is currently working as a doctoral assistant professor at the Escuela Técnica Superior de Ingeniería de Telecomunicación de la Universidad Rey Juan Carlos, combining his teaching work with participation in research projects. His interests are teaching innovation through technology to improve both the performance of teachers and the performance of students.