Markus Garschall

User interface for social networking application for the elderly

Elderly people with no or limited skills of using computers are in risk of social isolation as social life moves to the Internet. This paper describes the design process and implementation of a user interface and device for the elderly for a social networking application. The idea is that people with no previous experience on using computers are able to use the device immediately and that the device is not considered to be a computer. An iterative and user-centred design process is used to ensure that all the needs and views from the users are taken into account. The user interface and the device have been tested in long lasting field trials and the results are presented in this paper. Based on the results the implemented device seems to qualify the needs of elder users.

EdgeBraille: Braille-based text input for touch devices

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to discuss the issue of tailored text input methods for visually impaired and blind users that are needed on touchscreen devices to support their accessibility. Previous approaches still have issues related to the necessity of searching for characters, slow entry speeds or cumbersome handling. Design/methodology/approach – The authors developed a new Braille-based text input method named EdgeBraille, which allows entering six-point Braille characters by swiping one finger along the edges of the touchscreen in an arbitrary sequence. The approach was compared with the current standard method of a talking keyboard, first in a short-term lab study (14 participants) and then during two weeks of daily training (seven participants). Findings – Overall EdgeBraille was perceived well by the users and possesses favourable handling characteristics. In terms of user performance (words per minute and error rate) the authors found no significant differences between the two methods...

Hands free - care free: elderly people taking advantage of speech-only interaction

This paper presents an explorative study investigating the applicability of speech-only interaction in the everyday life of elderly people. For the purpose of this study we connected an iPhone 4s including the Siri application with a Bluetooth enabled headset. By pressing the Siri activation button on the iPhone the participants were able to directly access the iPhone services via voice without using a graphical user-interface (GUI). The aim of this study was to investigate the usability, user experience and acceptance of speech-only interaction by elderly users. The results indicate a high potential of speech-only interaction for elderly users not only in indoor but also in outdoor environments. The participants showed an overall positive attitude and high acceptance of speech interaction. They particularly appreciated the simplicity of this form of interaction and indicated to use speech-only interaction in their everyday life.

Dots and Letters: Accessible Braille-Based Text Input for Visually Impaired People on Mobile Touchscreen Devices

Tailored text input methods for visually impaired and blind users are needed on touchscreen devices to support their accessibility. Therefore, we de-veloped a new Braille-based text input method named EdgeBraille, which allows entering Braille characters by swiping one finger along the edges of the touchscreen. The approach was compared with the current standard method of a talking keyboard, first in a short-term lab study (14 participants) and then during two weeks of daily training (7 participants). Overall EdgeBraille was perceived well by the users. In terms of user performance we found no significant differences between the two methods. Based on the evaluation results and the feedback of our participants, we discuss advantages and disadvantages of Braille-based methods in general and EdgeBraille in particular, as well as possibilities for improvements.

Exploring voice user interfaces for seniors

Recent product releases such as Apples Siri and Googles Voice Search have strongly emphasized the use of voice as a modern interaction modality. Seniors, in particular, might appreciate an alternative to small mobile phone keypads, touchpads and computer mice. This paper presents initial explorations of how elderly people would interact with language-technology-driven interfaces, how these interactions measure up against traditional physical interaction channels, and what features they may require to satisfy the needs of this very specific user group.

USING WIZARD OF OZ TO COLLECT INTERACTION DATA FOR VOICE CONTROLLED HOME CARE AND COMMUNICATION SERVICES

This research aims at providing Voice controlled As- sistive (vAssist) Care and Communication Services for the Home to seniors suffering from fine-motor problems and/or chronic diseases. The constantly growing life expectancy of the European population increasingly asks for techno- logical products that help seniors to manage their activities of daily living. In particular, we require solutions which offer interaction paradigms that fit the cognitive abilities of elderly users. Natural language-based access can be seen as one way of increasing the usability of these services. Yet, the construction of robust language technologies such as Automatic Speech Recognition and Natural Language Understanding does require sufficient domain specific in- teraction data. In this paper we describe how we plan to obtain the relevant corpus data for a set of different applica- tion scenarios, using the Wizard of Oz (WOZ) prototyping method. Using a publicly available WOZ tool we discuss how the integration of existing language technologies with a human wizard may help in designing a natural user inter- face for seniors and how such has the potential to underpin an iterative user-centred development process for language- based applications.

Enabling accessibility through multimodality?: interaction modality choices of older adults

In this work, we identify influencing factors on modality choices of older adults. In detail, we investigated when and why older adults prefer speech over touch interaction and vice versa when interacting with a mobile multimodal health and wellbeing service. We conducted a study with 19 older adults using a mobile application with a duration of three to six weeks. Due to this long duration of the study we were able to gain highly external valid insights as our results are based on real world experiences. We identify additional influencing factors within the areas of user characteristics, contextual factors and perceived system characteristics. We outline the impact of the factors and highlight the importance of several of these factors to enable accessible user interfaces. Our results provide first steps towards a more holistic model of modality choices taking into account interdependencies of different factors.

The Influence of Age and Device Orientation on the Performance of Touch Gestures

Touch interaction has become a popular and widespread interaction technique. Recent studies indicate significant potential for touch interaction with regard to the integration of older adults into the world of ICT. We carried out a study with the goal of gaining deeper insight into performance differences between young and old users as well as the influence of tablet device orientation on performance. We implemented an application for the iPad that measures various performance characteristics when performing six gestural tasks—tap, drag, pinch, pinch-pan, rotate left and rotate right—for both portrait and landscape orientations. Results showed the importance of device orientation as an influencing factor on performance and indicate that age is not the exclusive influencing factor on touch interaction performance.

Supporting the Development of Assistive Systems for Older People: Company perspectives

Assistive technologies to support aging in place are being widely promoted due to changing demographics. Although much time and money has been invested in the development of these types of systems, to date there are not many successful systems on the market. This highly interactive industrial workshop aims to help participants gain a better understanding of the issues that companies developing these technologies face. Together participants will develop ideas of what can be done to support more success in the future.

Future Perspectives for Aging Well: AAL Tools, Products, Services

This Special Thematic Session (STS) was intended to provide a forum to discuss some major issues related to Ambient Assisted Living (AAL) services and technologies to support aging in place. The papers in the session are introduced here. These cover a broad range of topics including the development of new solutions, existing solutions and their evaluation and also issues and preferences related to specific systems. The technologies described are very diverse and include communication systems, entertainment platforms, telecare systems, wearable technologies and assistive robots. Together these contributions can support others developing these types of systems in the future. In the end, we hope this can benefit the growing number of older people by supporting safety and independence, and thus help people to age with more dignity and enjoyment.