Jayden Khakurel

Tapping into the wearable device revolution in the work environment: a systematic review

Purpose n n n n nThe purpose of this paper is to expand current knowledge about the recent trend of wearable technology to assess both its potential in the work environment and the challenges concerning the utilisation of wearables in the workplace. n n n n nDesign/methodology/approach n n n n nAfter establishing exclusion and inclusion criteria, an independent systematic search of the ACM Digital Library, IEEE Xplore, ScienceDirect and Web of Science databases for relevant studies was performed. Out of a total of 359 articles, 34 met the selection criteria. n n n n nFindings n n n n nThis review identifies 23 categories of wearable devices. Further categorisation of the devices based on their utilisation shows they can be used in the work environment for activities including monitoring, augmenting, assisting, delivering and tracking. The review reveals that wearable technology has the potential to increase work efficiency among employees, improve workers’ physical well-being and reduce work-related injuries. However, the review also reveals that technological, social, policy and economic challenges related to the use of wearable devices remain. n n n n nResearch limitations/implications n n n n nMany studies have investigated the benefits of wearable devices for personal use, but information about the use of wearables in the work environment is limited. Further research is required in the fields of technology, social challenges, organisation strategies, policies and economics to enhance the adoption rate of wearable devices in work environments. n n n n nOriginality/value n n n n nPrevious studies indicate that occupational stress and injuries are detrimental to employees’ health; this paper analyses the use of wearable devices as an intervention method to monitor or prevent these problems. Introducing a categorisation framework during implementation may help identify which types of device categories are suitable and could be beneficial for specific utilisation purposes, facilitating the adoption of wearable devices in the workplace.

Living with Smartwatches and Pedometers: The Intergenerational Gap in Internal and External Contexts

The purpose of this article is to explore and present the range of commonalities and differences between internal and external contexts that influence elderly and younger users’ intentions to use commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) smartwatches and pedometers as motivational tools for physical activity. Therefore, this article follows the contextual action theory and the usability evaluation approach, in which “testing” and “inquiry” were applied to 21 younger participants and 13 fit, elderly participants who were in either the pre-contemplation, contemplation, action, or maintenance behavior-change stage. The results revealed no differences in internal context between the target groups due to both the effect and the useful-ness of the external context. However, there were distinctions between the younger and elderly participants regarding external context, especially in certain aspects of device usability, such as font size, touchscreen interaction, interaction technique, and applications installed, which were the core factors that affected the use of COTS smartwatches and pedometers by the study groups. In addition, the external and internal contexts had a cause-effect relationship, which significantly influenced the use of COTS smartwatches and pedometers.

Intended use of smartwatches and pedometers in the university environment: an empirical analysis

In this work, we empirically examine factors that influence the intention to use wearables e.g. smartwatch or pedometer, in the university environment through a Wearable Acceptance Model (WAM). WAM incorporates UTAUT model and additional variables like wearable characteristics (e.g. wearability, design and physical characteristics), attitude and privacy. WAM was used with an online survey of 129 university faculty, staff and students. Further, partial least square (PLS) path modeling was applied in analysis of 14 hypotheses to validate WAM results. In accordance to WAM, wearability and attitude tend to have a direct effect on intention to use, whereas performance and effort expectancy had only a direct influence on attitude and no direct influence on usage intention. Similarly, privacy concern, social influence had a positive influence on the intention to use both directly and indirectly through attitude. However, design and physical characteristics had no effect on intention to use. This study makes a unique empirical contribution to wearable research by extending knowledge on university users behavior regarding wearables for well-being.

The Use of Wearable Devices in the Workplace - A Systematic Literature Review.

The aim of this Systematic Literature Review is to provide a heuristic overview on the recent trends of wearable technology and to assess their potential in workplaces. The search procedure resulted a total of 34 studies. In more details, 29 different types of wearable devices were obtained from the studies. Categorization revealed that obtained wearable devices were used for monitoring: 18 types (e.g. for mental stress, progress, etc.), augmenting: 3 types (e.g. for data, images), assisting: 3 types (e.g. to uplift their work), delivering: 2 types (e.g. for vital information contents) and tracking: 8 types (e.g. sedentary behaviour). To sum up, though wearable technology has already gained momentum for personal use to monitor daily activities, our studies shows that it also has potential to increase work efficiency among employees, improve worker’s physical well-being and reduce work related injuries. Further work in terms of privacy, usability, security, policies, cost of devices and its integration to the existing system is required in order to increase the adoption rate of wearable devices in workplaces.

Assessing TRL of HCI Technologies Supporting Shop Floor Workers

Successful worker-centered Industry 4.0 solutions depend on the maturity of the technologies supporting workers interaction with information systems. This paper discusses the methodology we followed while creating and updating the FACTS4WORKERS approach for monitoring available technologies together with an assessment of their readiness for being used on industrial shop floors. Our approach is based on the creation of a taxonomy of technologies to be considered and the assessment of their readiness following an adaptation of the technology readiness assessment methods defined by National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) or European Space Agency (ESA). Further, the approach discussed can be cost-effective, productive, and easily adopted by any company, especially small and medium sized enterprises, which are considering starting an ICT project (with a substantial human computer interaction component). While our approach focuses on technology maturity, we believe that other aspects could also be evaluated to determine the readiness level of a technology to be used on the shop floor, including, for example, the expected benefits for the workers or remaining technology challenges.

Categorization Framework for Usability Issues of Smartwatches and Pedometers for the Older Adults.

In recent years various usability issues related to device characteristics of quantified-self wearables such as smartwatches and pedometers have been identified which appear likely to impact device adoption among the older adults. However, an overall framework has not yet been developed to provide a comprehensive set of usability issues related to smartwatches and pedometers. This study used a two-stage research approach with 33 older participants, applying contextual action theory and usability evaluation methods both to determine perceived usability issues and to formulate a usability categorization framework based on identified issues. Additionally, we prioritized the predominant usability issues of smartwatches and pedometers that warrant immediate attention from technology designers, the research community, and application developers. Results revealed predominant usability issues related to the following device characteristics of smartwatches: user interface (font size, interaction techniques such as notification, button location) and hardware (screen size); and of pedometers: user interface (font size, interaction techniques such as notification, button location, and tap detection) and hardware (screen size).

Hackathons in software engineering education: lessons learned from a decade of events

Hackathons are currently a hot topic in industrial learning settings. Like intensive collaborative courses (e.g. code camps), hackathons have been shown to be successful tools for learning. However, current research has failed to adequately compare the two approaches with respect to who benefits, which stakeholders are involved, and what the practical arrangement differences are. We used a literature review, our own multi-year learning experiences, and written and interview material from students and industry participants to present an overview of hackathons and code camps. Based on the results of our analysis, we present a taxonomy, based on our experiences, to help practitioners decide which kind of intensive event approach is suitable for them, depending on their industry and educational needs. This synthesis and the study results provide the first steps towards a functional definition that covers intensive collaborative working events involving real-life problems, such as code camps, hackathons, and 24-hour innovation workshops. Currently, the terminology is diverse, but there are commonalities and differences across each of these events and their purposes.

Crafting Usable Quantified Self-wearable Technologies for Older Adult

Commercially off-the-shelf (COTS) quantified self-wearable technologies (QSWT) have enabled younger individuals to adopt a measurable living style [49] through the collection of “quantifiable data”. However, the adoption of wearables remains lowest among the older adult, and the question of what is holding adoption back remains. The purpose of this study is to: (i) explore and present the device characteristics of smartwatches and pedometers that affect the adoption of wearables across different cultures; (ii) study country-specific older adult’s importance weights on identified issues; and (iii) provide informal usability guidelines for manufacturers, researchers, and application developers. The results revealed that the usability issues such as screen size, tapping detection, device size, interaction techniques, navigation, and typography were some of the reasons for the low adoption of wearables among the older adult. Further, device and screen size were significantly more essential for the Finnish compared to US older adult participants, demonstrating that culture might influence the perception of some device characteristics.