Marcos Baez

Background: Regular physical activity has a positive effect on physical health, well-being, and life satisfaction of older adults. However, engaging in regular physical activity can be challenging for the elderly population because of reduced mobility, low motivation, or lack of the proper infrastructures in their communities. Objective: The objective of this paper was to study the feasibility of home-based online group training—under different group cohesion settings—and its effects on adherence and well-being among Russian older adults. We focused particularly on the technology usability and usage and on the adherence to the training (in light of premeasures of social support, enjoyment of physical activity, and leg muscle strength). As a secondary objective, we also explored the effects of the technology-supported intervention on subjective well-being and loneliness. Methods: Two pilot trials were carried out exploring two different group cohesion settings (weak cohesion and strong cohesion) in the period from 2015 to 2016 in Tomsk, Russian Federation. A total of 44 older adults (59-83 years) participated in the two pilots and followed a strength and balance training program (Otago) for 8 weeks with the help of a tablet-based virtual gym app. Participants in each pilot were assigned to an interaction condition, representing the online group exercising, and an individual condition, representing a home-based individual training. Both conditions featured persuasion strategies but differed in the ability to socialize and train together. Results: Both interaction and individual groups reported a high usability of the technology. Trainees showed a high level of technology acceptance and, particularly, a high score in intention to future use (4.2-5.0 on a 5-point Likert scale). Private texting (short service message [SMS]) was used more than public texting, and the strong cohesion condition resulted in more messages per user. Joint participations to training sessions (copresence) were higher for the social group with higher cohesion. The overall adherence to the training was 74% (SD 27%). Higher levels of social support at baseline were associated with higher adherence in the low cohesion condition (F1,18=5.23, P=.03), whereas in the high cohesion, such association was not found. Overall improvement in the satisfaction with life score was observed between pre and post measures (F1,31=5.85, P=.02), but no decrease in loneliness. Conclusions: Online group exercising was proven feasible among healthy independently living older adults in Russia. The pilots suggest that a physical training performed in a virtual environment positively affect the life satisfaction of the trainees, but it does not provide support for a decrease in loneliness. High cohesion groups are preferable for group exercising, especially to mitigate effects of low social support on adherence. Further research in motivating group interactions in training settings is needed.

This paper lays the foundation for a new delivery paradigm for web-accessible content and functionality, i.e., conversational interaction. Instead of asking users to read text, click through links and type on the keyboard, the vision is to enable users to “speak to a website” and to obtain natural language, spoken feedback. The paper describes how state-of-the-art chatbot technology can enable a dialog between the user and the website, proposes a reference architecture for the automated inference of site-specific chatbots able to mediate between the user and the website, and discusses open challenges and research questions. The envisioned, bidirectional dialog paradigm advances current screen reader technology and aims to benefit both regular users in eyes-free usage scenarios as well as visually impaired users in everyday scenarios.

Background. This review studies technology-supported interventions to help older adults, living in situations of reduced mobility, overcome loneliness, and social isolation. The focus is on long-distance interactions, investigating the (i) challenges addressed and strategies applied; (ii) technology used in interventions; and (iii) social interactions enabled. Methods. We conducted a search on Elsevier’s Scopus database for related work published until January 2020, focusing on (i) intervention studies supported mainly by technology-mediated communication, (ii) aiming at supported virtual social interactions between people, and (iii) evaluating the impact of loneliness or social isolation. Results. Of the 1178 papers screened, 25 met the inclusion criteria. Computer and Internet training was the dominant strategy, allowing access to communication technologies, while in recent years, we see more studies aiming to provide simple, easy-to-use technology. The technology used was mostly off-the-shelf, with fewer solutions tailored to older adults. Social interactions targeted mainly friends and family, and most interventions focused on more than one group of people. Discussion. All interventions reported positive results, suggesting feasibility. However, more research is needed on the topic (especially randomized controlled trials), as evidenced by the low number of interventions found. We recommend more rigorous methods, addressing human factors and reporting technology usage in future research.

Chatbots are emerging as a promising platform for accessing and delivering healthcare services. The evidence is in the growing number of publicly available chatbots aiming at taking an active role in the provision of prevention, diagnosis, and treatment services. This article takes a closer look at how these emerging chatbots address design aspects relevant to healthcare service provision, emphasizing the human–AI interaction aspects and the transparency in AI automation and decision making.

Crowdsourcing is being increasingly adopted as a platform to run studies with human subjects. Running a crowdsourcing experiment involves several choices and strategies to successfully port an experimental design into an otherwise uncontrolled research environment, e.g., sampling crowd workers, mapping experimental conditions to micro-tasks, or ensure quality contributions. While several guidelines inform researchers in these choices, guidance of how and what to report from crowdsourcing experiments has been largely overlooked. If under-reported, implementation choices constitute variability sources that can affect the experiment’s reproducibility and prevent a fair assessment of research outcomes. In this paper, we examine the current state of reporting of crowdsourcing experiments and offer guidance to address associated reporting issues. We start by identifying sensible implementation choices, relying on existing literature and interviews with experts, to then extensively analyze the reporting of 171 crowdsourcing experiments. Informed by this process, we propose a checklist for reporting crowdsourcing experiments.

Conversational agents are emerging as channels for a natural and accessible interaction with digital services. Their benefits span across a wide range of usage scenarios and address visual impairments and any situational impairments that may take advantage of voice-based interactions. A few works highlighted the potential and the feasibility of adopting conversational agents for making the Web truly accessible for everyone. Yet, there is still a lack of concrete guidance in designing conversational experiences for browsing the Web. This paper illustrates a human-centered process that involved 26 blind and visually impaired people to investigate their difficulties when using assistive technology for accessing the Web, and their attitudes and preferences on adopting conversational agents. In response to the identified challenges, the paper introduces patterns for conversational Web browsing. It also discusses design implications that can promote Conversational AI as a technology to enhance Web accessibility.