bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Increasing Reliability in the Development of Intelligent Environments
Authors: Augusto Juan Carlos
Published: February 2025

Little is reported in the literature on the methodology used to develop Intelligent Environments. These are inherently complex systems as they are the product of a multidisciplinary approach. Their main purpose is to help people directly, which leads to these environments to take on enormous responsibilities of safety and well being of the users of the environment. We illustrate in this paper how techniques and tools developed in other areas of Computer Science to increase the reliability of software can be applied at design and modelling stages to guide the engineering and developing team to reduce the potential for future malfunctioning.
Wireless sensor networks: the ambient intelligence that will connect the next billion nodes to the Internet
Authors: Gomez Carles  , Paradells Josep
Published: February 2025

Wireless sensor networks (WSNs) have gained momentum as a technology for monitoring and control applications in a plethora of scenarios. Some examples include home automation, industrial control and environmental monitoring. In fact, these networks may enable the futuristic paradigm called ambient intelligence. Despite the challenges that present these networks, a variety of solutions (many of which are proprietary) have emerged. In parallel, the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) is devoting a lot of effort to the development of standard networking solutions for WSNs based on the Internet Protocol (IP). This work will allow straightforward interoperability between WSNs and the Internet and will also constitute a significant step towards the ‘Internet of Things’.
A Service Oriented Architecture Combining Agents and Ontologies Towards Pervasive Adaptation
Authors: Goumopoulos Christos  , Kameas Achilles
Published: February 2025

Contemporary software technologies complying with the Service-Oriented Architectural (SOA) paradigm, such as OSGi, UPnP, and the Web services do not meet on their own the adaptability and interoperability challenges of the Ambient Intelligence (AmI) environments. In this paper we present a solution based on the combination of the SOA model with Agents and Ontologies. The agent approach complements the SOA infrastructure by providing high level adaptation to user's tasks, as an intelligent control layer above SOA. Ontologies are used to tackle the semantic heterogeneity that arises in AmI spaces and provide to agents a common repository of system knowledge, policies and state.
A Speech Recognizer Based Intelligent Agent For Ambient Intelligent Environments
Authors: Elfaham Amr  , Hagras Hani
Published: February 2025

In this paper, we will present a new approach for agents embedded in Ambient Intelligent Environments (AIEs). The new approach is based on integrating a speech recognizer with an adaptable intelligent agent for controlling the AIE on the user behalf. The intelligent agent is based on fuzzy systems which is able to learn the user(s) behavior and adapt in a lifelong learning mode to the user changing desires and preferences. The speech recognizer based agent was tested in the German University in Cairo intelligent Classroom (iClass) which is a real world AIE testbed. The results have validated the proposed approach with real experiments involving real users in the iClass.
“Let them TalkMaths!”
Authors: Wigmore Angela  , Hunter Gordon  , Pflügel Eckhard  , Denholm-Price James  , Binelli Vincent
Published: February 2025

We note the disadvantages which many people with disabilities have regarding learning and using mathematics. We then describe work in progress on developing intelligent systems to assist such people by allowing them to dictate mathematical expressions in relatively natural language into either a system which can interpret and display the expressions in a document or web page, or a web-based calculator, including the possibilities of feedback in both visible and other modes (e.g. synthesized speech and Braille). We discuss the implementation and use of these systems, initial results of a study to evaluate their utility, and potential further developments.
An Intelligent System for Extracting Intro and Outré Times in Songs Using Artificial Neural Networks
Authors: Elkasrawy Sarah  , Hagras Hani  , Nawito Moustafa
Published: February 2025

In this paper, we will present a neural network based approach to extract intro and outré times of songs within an intelligent radio broadcasting studio (iStudio). The iStudio is located in the German University in Cairo (GUC) and it is a testbed for Ambient Intelligent Environments (AIEs) that are related to media and entertainment. The paper targets the challenging problem of producing a system that can predict the music intro and outré times of songs thus avoiding the need to manually measure these times for the huge number of songs that exist in any radio station library. The importance of predicting the music intro and outré times is crucial for realizing Ambient Intelligence (AmI) in radio studios as knowing these times will be essential for controlling the previous and following events of the given songs, especially in talk shows and DJ shows. The paper will explain the employed technique and we will present experiments to justify the success of the employed approach.
Decision Support System for Hot Spot Detection
Authors: Salamí Esther  , Pedre Sol  , Borenzstejn Patricia  , Barrado Cristina  , Stoliar Andres  , Pastor Enric
Published: February 2025

Forest fires are an important problem for many countries. Prevention, surveillance and extinguishing tasks are costly and sometimes risky. This paper focuses on the surveillance of the fire embers once the fire is extinguished. This is a post-fire task which requires an important amount of terrestrial resources, especially if the weather conditions may provoke the re-ignition of the fire. We propose the use of an Unmanned Aerial System to support fire fighters' decisions. Our proposal is to develop an intelligent system which can make or suggest tactical decisions to firemen on hot-spot surveillance. The Unmanned Aerial System consists of a small unmanned aircraft, a ground control station and several personal devices for the firemen on ground. All system elements are wirelessly connected. On board data acquisition and fast processing, together with an intelligent transmission and interpretation are the targets of the system.
Science Fiction Prototypes Or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying about the Future and Love Science Fiction
Authors: Johnson Brian David
Published: February 2025

This paper is meant to be an introduction both to the short story “Nebulous Mechanisms” as well as the concept of science fiction prototypes. In the tradition of the legendary Isaac Asimov, we jump into the long and symbiotic history of science fact and science fiction. Briskly we move through current work in the field and delve into the particulars of the craft of combining current scientific research, theory and practice with the fictional construct of the science fiction story. Finally we look into the specifics of the story “Nebulous Mechanisms” and conclude with the challenge to employ the science fiction prototype to foster innovation and explore the boundaries of modern science.
u-Photo Mobile: Interacting with Smart Environments via Clickable Photos on Mobile Phones
Authors: Aoki Soko  , Ito Masaki  , Yura Junichi  , Nakazawa Jin  , Takashio Kazunori  , Tokuda Hideyuki
Published: February 2025

This paper presents u-Photo Mobile a clickable digital still image to visualize and operate ubiquitous services. U-Photo Mobile is designed and implemented to be executed on smart phones e.g. Apple's iPhone. Users shoot the ubiquitous services attached with a two-dimensional bar-code. The u-Photo Mobile system decodes the ID and finds functions of the service. The touch screen of u-Photo Mobile lets users check and control the service. The operation of ubiquitous services are realized by making a network connection between u-Photo Mobile and the services. With this intuitive method, the users can interact with ubiquitous service through the metaphor of “taking and tapping a photograph.” The u-Photo provides users with an instinctive technique, which realizes a seamless interaction between user's mobile phones and intelligent environments.
Power Relations in Mobile Connectivity
Authors: Yoshida Miya
Published: February 2025

Mobile communications and mobile information spaces represent typical examples for the alleged “fluidity” of exchange in contemporary “networked” societies – a quality which allows change back and forth effortlessly between spaces separated by economic and/or socio-political boundaries. The commercial marketing discourse of “accessibility” suggests an even stronger form of empowerment – beyond contextual, special and geographic conditions. Visibility today seems to be something that is primarily organized around commodities and consumer goods. In societies of control, invisibility has become something that is organized as well. This means that, on the level of social communications, the division between the two has become increasingly difficult to explain – it has now been assigned to the psyche and intuition of user individuals to digest, to process, to understand what is actually “visible” and “invisible” in any given moment. Over recent decades, questions of visibility/invisibility have become a crucial topic, if not a paradigm in contemporary artistic practices. Accordingly, in my paper, I would like to introduce two art projects, which highlight one of the invisible geopolitical spaces shaped by mobile communication. Analyzing the kind of invisibility that is being represented by these works, I will attempt to discuss and to devise a new set of questions to reconsider visibility and invisibility in the context of power relations in the conditions of mobile connectivity.
Supporting introspective human behaviours through technologies
Authors: Pavel Dana  , Callaghan Vic  , Dey Anind K.  , Gardner Michael
Published: February 2025

Almost all technology supported activities we perform today involve a device with computational power able to collect data that can give information about our activities as well as, with the appropriate sensors, about our physiological status. While recording user data is not particularly novel, in our work, we concern ourselves with methods that people can use to gather and analyze data about themselves as they go about everyday work and leisure activities in order to better support self-monitoring and self-understanding. Our aim is to enable people to detect causality relationships in their behaviours either for serving their curiosity or, as we hope, for really empowering them with a tool for self-changes. In this ‘work-in-progress’ paper we describe ongoing work towards these ends. We start out by a motivation and short description of our work, followed by an exemplar scenario on ‘preventive healthcare’ for the system we envision. Then we describe some of the most relevant and influential related work before describing the system design and the main challenges, followed by an overview of the current status and our future vision.
Maximizing Ridesharing Matches for Dynamic Carpooling
Authors: Thaler David  , Teredesai Ankur
Published: February 2025

Ubiquitous availability of web-based communications and presence information through portable data and GPS enabled mobile phones makes it possible to envision a system for dynamic carpooling to enhance flexibility in making carpool arrangements successful. However, a critical challenge is to design an algorithm that appropriately matches all travelers (riders and drivers). This paper introduces a dynamic ridesharing system that seeks to locate and optimize as many matches as possible, and then rank them by quality. This is a work-in-progress and current efforts address globally matching travelers so as to minimize the number of passengers without rides.
Social connectedness: concept and measurement
Authors: van Bel D.T.  , Smolders K.C.H.J.  , IJsselsteijn W.A.  , De Kort Y.A.W.
Published: February 2025

Social connectedness, i.e. the experience of belonging and relatedness between people, is a central concept in understanding and evaluating communication media, in particular awareness systems. A generic measure based on this construct an support the design of such systems. The current paper describes the construction of two questionnaires for the measurement of this concept. These questionnaires were subsequently applied in survey studies in order to establish the structure of the concept and to identify the items that are suited for the measurement of its dimensions. One questionnaire was subjected to an initial validation. We conclude with some preliminary suggestions regarding (design) approaches to foster social connectedness.
Ambient Media Services in Intelligent Environments
Authors: Altakrouri Bashar  , Schrader Andreas
Published: February 2025

In this paper, a novel infrastructure, called Medient is proposed. The name “Medient” is constructed from “ambient” and “media”. Medient is a service oriented architecture using web services to create context-aware multimedia services on mobile devices. We outline the technical approach using Bluetooth device detection and reverse AJAX push service creation. Results, usage showcases and a demo scenario are given for the Holstentor museum in Luebeck, Germany, as a typical example of a dense information environment with an increasing demand for contextualized exhibition services.
Psychosocial programmes can also diminish or destroy local human resources
Authors: Mikuš Kos Anica
Published: February 2025

The author analyses the impact of psychosocial training and programmes on local human resources focusing on some negative effects. Statements are illustrated with examples from the author's experience of long lasting practice of field work in areas affected by armed conflicts and terrorist acts. The relations between human resources, social capital, capacity building, sustainability, and mental health and psychosocial well-being are discussed. The gap between the declarative need for the mobilisation of local human resources in the frame of psychosocial assistance and the actual practice should be a matter of concern of donors, programme designers, field workers and local agents.
Capacity building in specialised health care as support to sustainable ongoing primary and mental health care protective processes in the society
Authors: Björn Åke  , Hodza-Beganovic Ruhije
Published: February 2025

Mental health care has increased its importance internationally as a priority sector in traumatised populations after a disaster or an armed conflict during the last decades. Kosovo lost its traditional medical referral systems following the regional conflicts after 1990 and the crisis in 1999, leaving the population with a lack of basic health care services. This led to putting mental health aspects in a lower priority for families with members suffering from life threatening conditions where treatment was not available in the country. This paper describes an eight years long medical programme with the aim of supporting capacity building parallel to meeting emergency needs. One important and hopefully sustainable result of the project was the establishment of professional friendships and professional international networks leading to possibilities for continuous contacts. Ethical dilemmas and priority aspects within a limited budget are discussed in the article.
Mobilising institutional and human resources of the school system
Authors: Lekaj Ramush  , Asllani Muharem  , Elshani Milaim  , Lekaj Faton  , Lushtaku Jashar  , Marevci Musli  , Mehmeti Arsim  , Mikuš Kos Anica  , Miller Bonnie  , Peci Muharem  , Xhakli Haki
Published: February 2025

This chapter contains presentations of concrete psychosocial programmes which are school based or tightly connected with the school system: psychosocial seminars for teachers; outreach activities of professionals in schools; counselling centres for children, parents and teachers; and training of schools psychologists. The leading idea of those programmes is that substantial human energies can be activated in the frame of the most universal social system – primary schools including all children aged 6-15. The Kosovo experience shows that investments in the school system are productive and economic.
Towards a new Concept to the Neurological Recovery for Knee Stabilization after Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction Based on Surface Electrical Stimulation
Authors: Moreno Juan C.  , Bonsfills Nuria  , Gómez Enrique  , Pons José L.
Published: February 2025

Background: The knee function is critical for locomotion, providing adaptation to the terrain and power for the propulsion. This work presents the concept of the Rehabot Knee project that relies on the hypothesis that an adequate neuromuscular control is crucial for the recovery of an injured knee, with or without surgery, in order to reach the expected level of activity in a reasonable timeframe. We develop a knee brace prototype intended to provide closed-loop electrical stimulation based on the detection of instability due to lack of neuromuscular control. The objective is to analyze kinetic and kinematic variables that might relate to the unilateral knee stability. A commercial knee brace for stabilization of the knee joint after anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction has been instrumented with wearable sensors, enabling estimation of interaction forces and rotational displacements around the orthotic knee joint. We present results of preliminary trials with a healthy subject performing diverse types of loading conditions. These results indicate the feasibility of the real-time detection of the induced loading conditions that might be related to anterior-posterior tibial displacement.
Increasing Software Keyboard Key by Recycling Needless Ones
Authors: Merlin Bruno  , Raynal Mathieu
Published: February 2025

The existing software keyboards optimized for motor impaired users use either a layout with one character per key, or a reduced number of ambiguous keys. SpreadKey is based on a standard layout (QWERTY/AZERTY) but dynamically recycle the improbable characters according to a prediction system. The remapping of these characters creates ambiguous keys used to increase the key size of the most probable characters. A simple interaction enables to disambiguate the keystrokes in case of prediction error. We simulated the input of a large set of text to evaluate SpreadKey. And evaluate the system with motor impaired users. We are consequently expecting large benefits according to Fitts' law.
Affective Robotics for Assisting Elderly People
Authors: Pastor Carmen  , Gaminde Gabriel  , Renteria Arantxa  , Cornet Gérard  , Maseda Ana  , Etxeberria Igone
Published: February 2025

There are widely acknowledged imperatives for helping the elderly live at home (semi)-independently for as long as possible. Without cognitive stimulation support the elderly dementia and depression sufferers can deteriorate rapidly and the carers will face a more demanding task. Both groups are increasingly at the risk of social exclusion. This article presents the work under development in the project CompanionAble. It will provide the synergy of Robotics and Ambient Intelligence technologies to provide for a care-giver's assistive environment. This is mediated by a robotic companion working collaboratively with a smart home environment. CompanionAble addresses the issues of social inclusion and homecare of persons with chronic cognitive disabilities prevalent among the increasing European older population. A participative and inclusive scenario validation approach will drive the efforts, involving care recipients and their close caregivers as well as the wider stakeholders.
Robots as Social Mediators: Field Trials with Children with Special Needs
Authors: Marti Patrizia  , Giusti Leonardo  , Rullo Alessia
Published: February 2025

In this paper we present the design and evaluation process of the socially interactive robot Iromec, used in educational/therapeutic settings to support and stimulate play activities in disabled children. In particular the paper reports some results of the field trials conducted in two primary schools in Siena (Italy) and discusses the implications for the design of socially interactive robots so that they can provide a full rich experience to the human user.
QuoVADis Project: Functionalities of the Robot and Data-Processing Architecture
Authors: Andriatrimoson Antonio  , Simonnet Thierry  , Nadrag Paul  , Hoppenot Philippe  , Colle Etienne
Published: February 2025

This paper describes the advantages and the main functionalities of the robot companion and data-processing architecture in the QuoVADis project. This project targets the people reached of cognitive troubles with the objective of their assistance at home. The robot is involved in the service which ensures the safety of the patient and plays a part in the cognitive stimulation. The stimulation of the residual cognitive capacities consists in helping the patient to locate himself in time and space, by making him safe in the event of wandering, of confusion and anguish, and by facilitating his communication with the ambient environment. The safety of the patient is based on a telecare system in the residence which aims to allow dependent or weakened people to remain at home and to be helped or “medicalized” remotely in a more reactive way in the event of emergency. The main originality of the QuoVADis project resides in the combination of a robot with a cognitive stimulation system and an integrated telecare system. The robot brings its mobility and multi-modal (audiovisual, tactile) interaction capabilities for improving the quality of the services given by these two systems.
BCI Applications for People with Disabilities: Defining User Needs and User Requirements
Authors: Zickler Claudia  , Di Donna Valentina  , Kaiser Vera  , Al-Khodairy Abdul  , Kleih Sonja  , Kübler Andrea  , Malavasi Massimiliano  , Mattia Donatella  , Mongardi Simona  , Neuper Christa  , Rohm Martin  , Rupp Rüdiger  , Staiger-Sälzer Pit  , Hoogerwerf Evert-Jan
Published: February 2025

The EU-project “Tools for Brain-Computer Interaction” (TOBI) aims at developing practical technology for brain-computer interaction. To elucidate the most urgent needs and requirements of potential users, 77 persons with disabilities from Austria, Italy, and Germany were assessed with a newly developed questionnaire. Participants had a high degree of experience in using assistive technology (AT). Despite high satisfaction ratings with current AT solutions there was still a need for better or alternative AT solutions in the areas of manipulation, communication, computer access/entertainment, and environmental control. The results also confirm the relevance of the set of applications the TOBI project is pursuing to develop. Main end-user requirements of new AT were “functionality”, “possibility of independent use”, and “easiness of use”.
odt2dtbook
Authors: Archambault Dominique  , Spiewak Vincent
Published: February 2025

Odt2bookhttp://odt2dtbook.sourceforge.net
How Assistive Technology Support Cognitive Disability, Secure Active Living for Persons with Dementia and Enhance New Interfaces Between Formal and Informal Care in the Area of Dementia
Authors: Jensen Lilly  , Maanson Ingela  , Holthe Torhild  , Hurnasti Tuula  , Gudnadottir Tordis
Published: February 2025

The aim of the research project is to get knowledge about the use of cognitive assistive devices in the daily life of persons with cognitive impairment caused by dementia. The objectives are to enhance the use of assistive technology in the area of dementia in order to secure a high degree of personal independence and quality of life. 29 persons with the diagnosis of dementia and/or their relatives as well as professionals from the service delivery of assistive technology were interviewed about their experiences on the assessment of need for assistive devices, the implementation and the use of the cognitive assistive devices in the daily life. A thematic qualitative analysis focuses on the usefulness and benefit of cognitive assistive technology in the daily living for persons with dementia and on the function of the service delivery system in order to find relevant procedures for delivering of cognitive assistive technology to persons with dementia. The results show that assistive technology can enhance the independence and quality of life for people with dementia, and therefore promote a sort of new interfaces between formal and informal elderly care in the area of dementia. A guideline for service delivery of assistive technology has been developed concerning the area of dementia, and the case stories with description of assistive devices and their use show the effect on formal and informal care.
Information Services on Public Transport for People with Reduced Mobility – a Survey among Public Transport Providers
Authors: Bühler Christian  , Heck Helmut  , Becker Josef  , Radek Christian  , Wallbruch Rainer
Published: February 2025

The German project BAIMplus aims at supporting the active and independent participation of people with reduced mobility, particularly elderly people, in public transport. It concentrates on the provision of accessible and adaptable information services with target group oriented information about suitable traveling opportunities or potential barriers, before and during the journey. The provision of information services strongly depends on the requirements of public transport providers as well as user needs which were investigated in the preceding project BAIM. Therefore a survey among public transport providers was undertaken to establish which information and services are already offered, planned and which are deemed useful but which cannot yet be implemented. The survey showed a strong interest in accessibility issues but also a deficit regarding innovative services (real time data and spoken dialog based systems) and accessibility issues (web accessibility).
Miming Navigation Pages with a Personal Remote Control Device for the Aged
Authors: Segarra Maria Teresa  , Thepaut André
Published: February 2025

The demographic development leads to an increasing number of elderly people with limited mental and physical capabilities and who demand for services that emphasize their comfort during every day life. This growth in population ageing have lead to increase efforts on using information and communication technologies in order to provide services that help elderly people to live in their own home as long as possible by making their life as healthy, save, and comfortable as possible. However, accessing such services can be challenging as the aged are not familiar with the traditional keyboard and mouse interaction devices. In this paper, we present our work on an interaction device based on a TV set and a touch screen based smart phone. When an old person wants to access a service, she uses the touch screen of the smart phone which mimics the navigation pages of the system, the content itself is only presented on the TV. Moreover, the smart phone embeds a RFID tag that identifies its owner so that the content presented on the TV set is the one concerned by her.
Plain Language Search
Authors: Kyyhkynen Kimmo  , Älli Sami  , Ohtonen Marianna
Published: February 2025

Plain language search is a two-year project for researching the needs of plain language users' difficulties and needs with current search engines and designing and implementing an information search service suited for special needs groups.
Systematic Review: Activity Outcomes of Environmental Control Systems and Smart Home Technology
Authors: Brandt Åse  , Salminen Anna-Liisa
Published: February 2025

A systematic review of outcomes of environmental control systems and smart home technology in terms of primary activity, participation, and independence, and secondarily of quality of life and user satisfaction was conducted. In all 16 databases were searched electronically, two journals, and three conferences were hand searched, covering years 1993-2007. Of the 650 documents identified, five met the set inclusion criteria, representing four studies. One was a randomised control study, and the other three small (n=5-8) pre-post studies. The internal quality of the studies was moderate, while the external validity was mainly good. Two studies concerned smart home technology and two environmental control systems. Study participants were mainly people with physical impairment, ranging from 6-82 years of age. Three studies demonstrated increased activity and/or participation; two increased independence; one improved quality of life; in one user satisfaction was high. In spite of the few studies the findings indicate that environmental control systems and smart home technology are promising technologies for enabling activity and participation, independence and quality of life for people with physical impairments. However, more studies are needed to properly establish the effectiveness of these technologies.
A Video-Based Fall Detector Sensor Well Suited for a Data-Fusion Approach
Authors: Matrella Guido  , Parada Guillermo  , Mordonini Monica  , Cagnoni Stefano
Published: February 2025

This paper describes an innovative video fall detector which can be implemented in hardware. The goal was to design a very economic embedded video sensor, based on a computationally light algorithm. Such a sensor can be placed in an environment equipped with an ‘ambient intelligence system’, to produce a robust detection of fall events, using a data-fusion approach which exploits the correlation of information obtained from this and other sensors (wearable sensors, audio sensors, etc.).
Autonomamente: A Multimodal Domotic Application and a Social Network to Support Autonomous Living of Persons with Cognitive Disabilities
Authors: Barbieri Thimoty  , Fraternali Piero  , Bianchi Antonio  , Tacchella Clarissa  , Peluso Assunta
Published: February 2025

The Autonomamente project developed a highly customizable application, based on multimodal communication (speech, icons, text, simplified interface). The application is designed to support autonomous living in special apartments fitted with domotic sensors, which allow local and remote control of the most important appliances (doors, windows, oven, cooking plates, etc.). Autonomamente not only offers domotic controls, but gives functionalities to support everyday social activities of the users: using the telephone in a simple way, schedule appointments and keep track of time, organize personal finances and savings. Continous training events were designed to show users, caregivers, and parents, the opportunities offered by the software and the technology to experiment autonomous living in an assisted way. These events were organized within a social network of caregiving institutions and parents associations. Early results in the first four apartments fitted with this technology showed an increasing interest and made clear to all participants the necessity to plan ahead the development of autonomous living capabilities of persons with cognitive disabilities.
User-centred Physiological Emotion Detection for Assistive Technology
Authors: Garzo Ainara  , Montalbán Iraitz  , León Enrique  , Etxeberria Igone  , Garay Nestor  , Yanguas José Javier
Published: February 2025

The importance of emotions in old age is evident as they are closely linked to adaptation processes, health status and cognition. Particularly related to this paper is the broadly studied relationship between negative emotions and negative health outcomes. In this sense, real-time physiological emotion detection systems can assist in developing solutions for minimising the effects of negative emotions on elderly people's health. However, the intrusiveness of continuous physical monitoring is an element that might produce negative reactions from the user and therefore reduce the acceptability of such systems. In this paper we present the results of a scenario-driven user-centred analysis involving a group of elder people in order to evaluate their response to emotion recognition-based assistive technology. The main conclusion of this study is that emotion detection systems appear to be of great benefit when they offer user-supervised ways to increase human support in situations involving strong affective negativity, as opposed to fully-automated computer interaction.
SHARE-it scenarios
Authors: Annicchiarico Roberta  , Federici Alessia  , Campana Fabio  , Barrué Cristian  , Villar Alfredo  , Cortés Ulises  , Caltagirone Carlo
Published: February 2025

A scenario is an example narrative description of typical interactions of users with the system. Scenarios are concrete, informal descriptions, and are not intended to describe all possible interactions. This document describes the scenarios used in the SHARE-it project. These scenarios have several purposes. The main purpose of scenarios is to provide a communication tool between the user experts and the technology experts. As scenarios describe the actual deployment of the system, it encapsulates both knowledge about how the system can be useful, and also what is technically feasible. Each scenario in this document has the following items: Purpose of the scenario, User Description, Narrative Scenario, Structure of the scenario, Roles of the Agents, Role of Communication.
Web Accessibility and Older People
Authors: Arch Andrew  , Abou-Zahra Shadi
Published: February 2025

An ageing population reinforces the demand for accessible Web sites and applications, to ensure equal participation and opportunities for all. One factor in the accessibility equation is the browser and associated assistive technology. This paper highlights the potential to improve older Web users experience. It considers browser usability and other factors needed to address the awareness and adoption of assistive technology and adaptive strategies.
Assessment of an Assistive Technology that Allows Driving a Car with Low Vision
Authors: Vincent Claude  , Lachance Jean-Paul  , Leblanc Raymond  , Deaudelin Isabelle
Published: February 2025

The purpose of this article is to present the results of a follow-up study conducted on drivers with low vision using a telescopic system and having followed an evaluation and training program and obtained a driver's licence. The study sought to compare the road safety of new drivers using a bioptic telescope and that of two other groups of new drivers of the same age, with and without license restrictions. The study also sought to document the impact driving had on the social participation of drivers with a bioptic telescope and their level of satisfaction with regards to the bioptic telescope.
Study about the Walk Supporting System Using LED for People with Low Vision at Night
Authors: Yanagihara Takao  , Kitagawa Hiroshi  , Omori Kiyohiro  , Kitayama Ichiro
Published: February 2025

Many people with low vision have waking disability at night in the road environment. In this study, it is proposed the guidance system using LED (Light Emitting Diode) for supporting a walk in low illumination environments. We experiment in the walk supporting system using LED, and clarify the effect and problem of this system. In order to experiment, two kinds of walk supporting systems using LED were installed in the road, and the walk experiment was conducted on 21 people with low vision. Two kinds of systems are the type which attaches LED to poles, and makes the mark of light, and another type embeds LED on the ground. The result of comparison of two types, it is almost the same the walk speed and the swerved distance from a straight line. But the result of the questionnaire survey, evaluation of the embedding type is better than the irradiation type.
Mobility-related Participation Outcomes of Rollator Interventions
Authors: Brandt Åse
Published: February 2025

This paper reports on a pre-post study on outcomes of rollator interventions in terms of mobility-related participation frequency and ease, and of users perceptions of the importance of the device. Data were collected in two municipalities with 37 and 38 respondents, in average 77 and 82 years of age. Taking walks became more frequent and easier, and in one of the municipalities it also became easier to go to the pharmacy, the post office and the library, to do shopping and to visit families and friends. Most users considered their device to be important, but there was an increased risk that the oldest users would not rate the device as important. Reasons for modest outcomes and for municipality differences are discussed.
Universal Combined System: Speech Recognition, Emotion Recognition and Talking Head for Deaf and Hard of Hearing People
Authors: Daassi-Gnaba Hela  , Lopez Krahe Jaime
Published: February 2025

The work presented here is an extension of the old LABIAO (Lecture lABIale Assistée par Ordinateur or Computer-Assisted lip reading) project. Its object is to provide lip readers and, especially deaf and hard of hearing people with an artificial talking head piloted by automatic speech recognition. However, many users need more. They also need the emotional state of the speaker in order to fully understand, thus the aim is to improve the talking head interface. For this purpose, we propose to extract prosodic elements from speech signal to identify the emotional state; an original approach based on the combination of speech recognition, emotion recognition and talking head is described.
Developing Assistive Technology to Enhance Learning for all Students
Authors: Wald Mike
Published: February 2025

Although manual captioning can increase the accessibility of multimedia for deaf students it is rarely provided in educational contexts in the UK due to the cost and shortage of highly skilled and trained stenographers. Speech recognition has the potential to reduce the cost and increase the availability of captioning if it could satisfy accuracy and readability requirements. This paper discusses how the development of a multimedia annotation application Synote that uses captioned multimedia can enhance learning for all students and how finding ways to improve the accuracy and readability of automatic captioning can encourage its widespread adoption to greatly benefit disabled students.
Attitudes of Children with Hearing Impairment towards Assistive Technology in Pakistan
Authors: Hameed Abdul  , Bano Humara
Published: February 2025

Assistive technology has brought about a revolution in the field of disability. Disability once unmanageable has been managed to the extent that the persons with disabilities are able to lead productive life through meaningful participation in the society. The case of children with hearing impairment in Pakistan unfortunately presents an opposite situation. For them assistive technology is a dream that never comes true. It is both expensive and unaccessible. This study surveys the attitudes of school children towards the usefulness of assistive technology that has become popular in the developed countries. A sample of 105 students from classes IX and X was conveniently selected from three schools of children with hearing impairment. They were asked to respond to 25 item questionnaire in sign language. The study indicates that a divide between rich and poor still exist with reference to the students with hearing impairment.
Approaches to Clinical Decision-Making in Assessment for Electronic Assistive Technology
Authors: Taylor-Goh Sylvia  , Mayagoitia Ruth  , Kitchen Sheila
Published: February 2025

Protocol Analysis was used to investigate the process and content of clinical decision-making of biomedical engineers, occupational therapists and speech and language therapists during assessment for electronic assistive technology (EAT). Sixty participants from assistive technology centres and brain injury units in England used video and audio enhanced case scenarios to think-aloud as they assessed and recommended equipment. Semi-structured interviews explored participants self-perception of their role and expertise in EAT assessment. The resultant verbal protocols were segmented and coded using decision-making processes and the interviews were coded thematically. This paper concentrates upon the methodological issues which arose when using Protocol Analysis.
Gathering and Applying Evidence in Computer Access Services
Authors: Koester Heidi Horstmann
Published: February 2025

Evidence-based practice (EBP) provides an opportunity to powerfully enhance assistive technology (AT) service delivery. In this paper, we present the concept of EBP and its role within AT service delivery. Focusing on the area of control interfaces for assistive technology, we describe tools that can help AT teams gather useful evidence about their clients' abilities. We also describe a particular assessment tool called Compass. Finally, we present case studies illustrating the use of EBP to diagnose difficulties with an existing interface, compare performance with different input devices, and track changes over time.
Study on the Veering Tendency of Persons with Visual Impairment
Authors: Ohkubo Hirohiko  , Kurachi Kunio  , Fujisawa Shoichiro  , Sueda Osamu
Published: February 2025

When the person with visual impairment try to cross the road, there is some deviation from center line of crossing zone at the time of he/she arrived to the opposite end. This paper shows that the reason of this phenomenon is caused by two reasons. One is the misdirection at the time of the first step forward and the other is the veering tendency when walking on the crossing zone. And also this paper shows that the deviation from the centerline of crossing zone will be reduced by reducing initial misdirection at the time of the first step forward.
Evaluating the Long Term Outcomes of an Assistive Technology Training Course to Inform Service Development
Authors: Bergin Juliann
Published: February 2025

Enable Ireland's Assistive Technology Training Service has been delivering a certified assistive technology training course since 2001. This course was developed as part of the AT Training Services' remit to up-skill and capacity build at a local level to service providers both within and outside that organization, as limited resources and a wide geographical reach meant that providing a front line service to all was unfeasible. The impact of this model of service delivery had not been explored beyond immediate feedback questionnaires once the course was completed, and evidence of outcomes was largely anecdotal. The nine day AT training course is certified by the Dublin Institute of Technology (DIT), and provided in partnership with AbilityNet and Microsoft Ireland. Over the last eight years, over 150 students have graduated from a variety of backgrounds including primary therapists, educators, technicians, individuals with disabilities and family members, employers and support staff. A variety of means is used to deliver the content, including lectures, guided hands-on experiences, demonstrations, self-directed learning, practical examples and case studies Goals of the course include: developing knowledge and skills that participants will require to meet the needs of AT users; providing an understanding of the processes, resources and tools required to support AT users in a wide range of environments; ensuring that users are central to the decision making process; and promoting best practice and integration of AT into service delivery. In late 2008, a confidential and anonymous web survey was administered to past participants to look at long-term outcomes and the impact on service delivery of attendance on the AT course. The design of this survey took into consideration the varying needs of the past participants in completing the questionnaire, including those with physical access issues and visual impairments. The results of this survey will be examined and discussed, along with the impact this will have on future developments of the AT course and on the National AT Training Service.
Distance Education and Training on Accessible Web Design
Authors: Hengstberger Barbara  , Miesenberger Klaus
Published: February 2025

This paper presents an international study programme on accessible web design which is under development in the framework of an EU – Erasmus Project. The paper will discuss the strong need for a Europe-wide academic training programme on accessible web design, the curriculum and the contents, the teaching and eLearning tools, the accreditation and the additional benefit of the programme.
Mobility Aid in Urban Scenarios for Visually Impaired People
Authors: Fanucci Luca  , Giusti David  , Iacopetti Fabrizio  , Leporini Barbara  , Roncella Roberto  , Santoro Carmen  , Scebba Andrea
Published: February 2025

This paper presents a research project that consists in the analysis, design, development and demonstration of a mobility aid for partially sighted/blind people, intended to allow them a safe and autonomous mobility in urban scenarios. Some mobility aids exist, mostly based on consumer GPS receivers, but they are not completely suitable or present some limitations. To overcome these limitations, we propose a system in which the user may move on a ground-level virtual path, which may be followed through the use of an electronic device mounted on a traditional white cane (smart cane). The device is able to detect the virtual path and to signal to the users, by means of vibration, that they are moving on a safe path. The smart cane also interacts through a Bluetooth link with a mobile device, which manages different navigation functionalities. Vocal information are sent by the mobile device through a wireless link to an earpiece worn by the user. The stick is equipped with a basic input interface (mini-joystick and slider) which allows the control of the main and frequently used functions of the system. The project, still in progress, plans the final installation of a demonstrator on the Walls of Lucca city, for a final validation by the users.
How Schools View and Plan Technology for Inclusion: Results of a Project of The Italian Ministry of Education
Authors: Besio Serenella  , Fogarolo Flavio  , Simoneschi Giovanni
Published: February 2025

The Italian Ministry of Education has launched an important plan to finance research projects developed by schools to solve specific problems involving accessibility to technology and to educational activities by students with disabilities when using their Assistive Technologies. The initiative is part of an extensive national training and support plan, called “New Technologies and Disability”, implemented from 2006 to the present. Twenty-six schools, in a co-operative effort with universities and private firms, are working to develop an equal number of products aimed at solving difficult – and quite specific – situations in the field of accessibility for which the best commercial solutions must still be found.
Combining Location Based Services with Games Based Learning Approaches in Assistive Technology
Authors: Brown David J.  , McHugh David  , Sik Lányi Cecília  , Drozdik Dolli
Published: February 2025

The employment rate for our target group of people with learning disabilities and/or difficulties is only 26% (UK Office for National Statistics). This client group need additional support and innovative pedagogical approaches, matched to their needs, to develop skills for work and personal development/independent living. We developed a game, which helps people with learning disabilities in their navigation.
Multimodal Accessible Games for Visually Impaired Players
Authors: Sepchat Alexis  , Bourguigneau Zoran  , Monmarche Nicolas  , Slimane Mohamed
Published: February 2025

Computer games are pertinent pedagogical and social inclusion tools. Thus, it is important to give impaired players the access to computer games. This article deals with one of the main problems of computer games accessibility: interaction ones. It introduces several alternative interfaces based on different modalities adapted to visually impaired players in a maze game. Then, it draws a comparison between these modalities.