Frederick Steinke

Personal Remote Assistance in Ambient Assisted Living—Experimental Research of Elderly People’s Trust and Their Intention to Use

The objective of this article is to analyze the meaning of two different support functions regarding the use of Ambient Assisted Living (AAL). Thirty-two older persons (M age = 69.84, SD = 6.31) and a younger control group (n = 21; M age = 24.71, SD = 2.10) were examined in an experiment with three different tasks using a tablet computer. The first group operated with a mock-up that provided personal remote assistance (PRA) and the second group with one that provided embedded technical assistance (ETA). The main results show that older participants with PRA solve significantly more tasks than people with ETA. Moreover, a significant influence of perceived ease of use with PRA is revealed. Multiple regressions in the senior sample highlight a significant connection between trust in AAL technology and perceived reliability as well as perceived ease of use. No significant correlation between the type of assistance and older persons’ trust, as well as an intention to use AAL, was found.

Experimental manipulation of reliability in ambient assisted living – an analysis of trust and intention to use

The present study examined three different reliability levels of an ambient assisted living (AAL) application and its influence on trust and intention to use. Past research has generally supported differences in trust in automation by a variation of reliability. However, investigations in the context of AAL, with older people as a target group, have not been empirically established. A 3 reliability (100%; 90%; 80%) × 2 target group (older people; students) experimental design was used for solving home automation tasks with an AAL mock-up. The study revealed no significant influence on trust in AAL and intention to use by the three different reliability conditions. In contrast, older people’s perceived reliability had a significant impact on both variables. The study highlighted the importance of perceived reliability in trust in AAL and usage intention, whereas the manipulated reliability showed only tendencies of these connections.

Expected Reliability of Everyday- and Ambient Assisted Living Technologies

To receive valuable information about expected reliability in everyday technologies compared to Ambient Assisted Living (AAL) technologies, an online survey was conducted including five everyday (train, dishwasher, navigation system, computer, mobile phone) and three AAL (stove, window, floor sensors) technologies. The age range of the 206 participants (109 men; 97 female) was from 14 to 88 years (mean=38.0). The descriptive analysis indicates expected reliabilities of more than 90% for most technologies. Only train punctuality is considered as less reliable with a mean expected reliability of 86%. Furthermore, by using t-tests it can be shown that the three AAL technologies are expected to have a higher reliability than the everyday technologies. Additionally, a sample split at the age of 50 years indicates that elderly participants expect that technologies have a higher reliability than younger participants do. Using these findings, in a next step an experiment with different reliability levels of AAL technologies will be designed. This differentiation will be used to measure the influence of reliability on trust and intention to use in context of Ambient Assisted Living.

Quality Improvement Models for Business Process Change – A German Case Study

This paper describes the role of business phase models with regards to modern IT-service design. Hence, the usability of two models incorporated for IT-service design in modern business environments will be evaluated. The two examined models are namely the classic four-step model also referred to as PDCA-Circle of Deming on the one hand and the lean Six Sigma model on the other hand.