Category: Participatory design

Delta i mindfulness-forskning på KTH

Är du 65 år eller äldre? Är du intresserad av mindfulnessträning? Kom och delta i forskning på KTH. Du får testa en mindfulnessapp hemma och dela din erfarenhet av mindfulnessträning med oss! 

Mindfulness har blivit en vanlig träningsform för att förbättra välbefinnande, minska symtom på stress och smärta, och förbättra avslappning och koncentration. Detta projekt syftar till att öka kunskapen om fördelarna med mindfulnessträning bland äldre vuxna. 

Fördelarna med mindfulness praktik 

Regelbunden mindfulnessträning kan hjälpa oss att: 

  • Minska symptom av stress och ångest 
  • Hantera våra känslor och tankar 
  • Hantera kronisk smärta 
  • Förbättra koncentration och ge ett ökat fokus 
  • Förbättra vår sömnkvalité och få oss att somna lättare 

Vad innebär studien?  

Studien kommer att ske under februari och mars 2024: 

1. Besök på KTH (2 timmar): 

Du kommer att besöka oss på KTH i början av studien så att vi kan presentera mobilapplikationen. Du kommer att få svara på ett frågeformulär om din tidigare användning av mobilapplikationer och ditt upplevda välbefinnande. Mötet kommer att ta cirka 2 timmar, och dagen bestäms efter deltagarnas tillgänglighet.  

2. Användning av applikation i ditt hem (3 veckor):

Du kommer att göra en kort daglig mindfulnessträning med mobilapplikationen i ditt eget hem under 3 veckor. Varje daglig praktik tar bara 5-10 minuter. Vi rekommenderar att deltagarna gör mindfulnessträningen minst 4 gånger per vecka, men helst varje dag. 

3. Besök på KTH (1 timme):

Efter 3 veckors mindfulnessträningsperiod, kommer du att besöka oss på KTH en gång till. Du kommer att få berätta om dina upplevelser av att använda mobilapplikationen för mindfulnessträning.  Detta möte tar cirka 1 timme och datumet bestäms efter deltagarnas tillgänglighet.

Vad är fördelarna med att delta?  

Ditt deltagande och din tid bidrar till kunskap om fördelarna med mindfulness praktik för äldre vuxna, och du får möjlighet att påverka framtida utveckling. Samtidigt får du en inblick i den pågående teknikutvecklingen som berör teknik och hälsa. Du kommer även få ett presentkort på en symbolisk summa som tack för ditt deltagande i studien. Deltagandet är helt frivilligt och du kan välja att avbryta ditt deltagande i studien när som helst. Din integritet kommer att respekteras, och ingen person kommer att kunna identifieras utifrån det publicerade materialet. All information om dig är helt och hållet anonymiserad. 

Vilka är de vetenskapliga frågeställningarna? 

  1. Påverkar mindfulnessträning för äldre vuxnas välbefinnande? I så fall, på vilket sätt? 
  2. Vilka är fördelarna och utmaningarna med att använda en mobilapplikation för mindfulnessträning bland äldre vuxna? 
  3. Vilken typ av interaktionsmodaliteter (röst, ljud, musik) skulle kunna förbättra applikationens interaktivitet?

Registrering: 

För at registrera dig för att delta i studien, fyll gärna i anmälningsformuläret här:  Anmälningsformuläret 

Du kan också anmäla dig med att skicka dina kontaktuppgifter till mccarren@kth.se. 

Alla vuxna från 65 år är välkomna att delta. Du behöver ingen tidigare erfarenhet av mindfulnessträning, men vi rekommenderar att du kan använda en mobilapp på svenska. 

Om forskarna: 

Lucy McCarren är doktorand på KTH vid skolan för medicinsk teknik och hälsosystem. Hennes forskning fokuserar på sociotekniska studier av artificiell intelligens (AI), i synnerhet de sociala och etiska effekterna av att använda konversations-AI inomäldreomsorgen. 

Sanna Kuoppamäki är biträdande universitetslektor på KTH vid skolan för medicinsk teknik och hälsosystem. 

Exploring AI-mediated mindfulness practice to promote older adults’ well-being

Mindfulness can improve mental and physical well-being 

Mindfulness has become a common self-care practice to improve mental and physical well-being, decrease symptoms of stress and improve relaxation and concentration.  Mindfulness can be defined as a state that can be achieved through focusing one’s awareness on the present using mind and breath.  Mindfulness can be used as a part of self-care practice, or as mindfulness-based intervention (MBIs). Mindfulness-based interventions are used as a prevention and treatment for depression, anxiety, stress and other psychiatric disorders, and they can be practiced through various exercises and assignments aimed at developing mindfulness through formal practice and in daily life.  

New research project about mindfulness in later life 

 At KTH we are investigating if and how AI-mediated mindfulness practice could promote the well-being of older adults aged 65 and over. The project explores the use of mobile applications in mindfulness practice and aims to design a new conversational mindfulness application through participatory design with older adults. 

Older adults could significantly benefit from mindfulness practice, but most mobile health applications are not developed based on their unique needs and interests. Conversational applications, such as chatbots or virtual assistants can decrease many technology adoption barriers that older adults typically experience with digital technologies and improve the interactivity with the device.  

What are the benefits of mindfulness practice in daily life?  

 Mindfulness practice has shown to be associated with reduced levels of stress, anxiety and depressive symptoms. Mindfulness can facilitate compassionate and self-compassionate thinking, which may reduce negative emotions and thoughts experienced in daily life. Mindfulness can also be used as a treatment for physical symptoms, such as chronic pain, fatigue and shortness of breath.  

 Mindfulness technologies today consist of mobile health applications or videos providing guided mindfulness training. In this project, we aim to use and develop a conversational mobile application that can provide a more personalised, adaptive and accessible mindfulness experience in comparison to traditional methods of mindfulness practice. This application can be designed to have customisable guidance, interactive features, reminders, progress tracking and social features.  

“I am interested in mindfulness – how can I participate in the project”?  

We are looking for older adults aged 65 and over who would like to use a mindfulness application for a 3-week period at their home. Participation includes an interview before and after using the application. No previous experience of mindfulness is needed, but we recommend that you are comfortable with using a mobile application in Swedish.  

 We will soon open the link for registration on the KTH website. You can also register by sending your contact information to to: mccarren@kth.se.  

By participating in the study, you will have a possibility to test a mobile application in mindfulness practice and contribute to increased scientific knowledge and understanding of the benefits of mindfulness for older adults.   

 Research team: 

Lucy McCarren, PhD student, Department of Biomedical Engineering and Health Systems, KTH 

Sanna Kuoppamäki, Assistant Professor, Department of Biomedical Engineering and Health Systems, KTH

Inbjudan till att delta i studien: ‘Utvecklingen av en personlig sällskapsrobot’

Är du vuxen som är 65 år eller äldre? Är du intresserad av sociala robotar och vill ta del av utvecklingen av en personligt sällskapsrobot? Kom och ta del av denna unika möjlighet att uppleva Furhat, världens mest avancerade sociala robot.

Forskningsprojektet ‘Personlig sällskapsrobot inom långtidsvården av äldre’ undersöker möjligheterna att använda sociala robotar för att ge socialt stöd till äldre vuxna i deras hem, för att minska upplevelsen av ensamhet. Roboten kommer att lära sig av samtal med användare och komma ihåg dem för att anpassa framtida samtal. Vi är intresserade av hur äldre vuxna upplever samtalet med sociala robotar, och vilken typ av samtal äldre vuxna anser som meningsfullt.

Vi söker äldre vuxna från 65 år som kan delta i studien. Studien kommer att ske den 6 och 8 mars kl. 10-12 och 14-16 på KTH Campus Digital Futures (Osquars backe 5).  Deltagande inkluderar:

  • Du kommer att se videor av sociala robotar i olika vardagssituationer
  • Du kommer att bli frågad vilken typ av konversation du skulle vilja ha med en robot i dessa situationer
  • Du kommer att ha ett kort samtal (5 min) med en robot
  • Du kommer att bli frågad om dina upplevelser av att ha samtalet med roboten

Sammantaget tar dessa två moment ca 2 h.

Alla vuxna som är 65 år eller äldre är välkomna att delta. Inga förkunskaper om robotar behövs för att delta. Vi bjuder på fika och ett presentkort för ditt deltagande.

Om du är intresserad av att delta kan du svara på denna inbjudan genom att skicka “Ja” tillsammans med ditt namn, vilka dagar och tider du är tillgänglig till sannaku@kth.se eller 070-2672 422.

Ditt deltagande bidrar till kunskap om fördelarna med denna teknik för äldre vuxna, och du får möjlighet att påverka framtida lösningar. Samtidigt får du en inblick i den pågående teknikutvecklingen som handlar om robotar och artificiell intelligens.

Deltagandet är helt frivilligt och du kan välja att avbryta ditt deltagande i studien när som helst. Din integritet kommer att respekteras, och ingen person kommer att kunna identifieras från det publicerade materialet. All information om dig är helt och hållet anonymiserad.

 

Med vänlig hälsning,

Bahar Irfan
Postdoktor vid Digital Futures
Kungliga Tekniska Högskolan, KTH
Avdelningen för Tal, Musik och Hörsel
Email. birfan@kth.se
Tel. +46 727805162

Sanna Kuoppamäki
Biträdande universitetslektor, PhD
Kungliga Tekniska Högskolan, KTH
Institutionen för Medicinsk Teknik och Hälsosystem
Email. sannaku@kth.se
Tel. +46 702672422

Gabriel Skantze
Professor i Talkommunikation och Talteknologi
Kungliga Tekniska Högskolan, KTH
Avdelningen för Tal, Musik och Hörsel
Email. skantze@kth.se
Tel. +46 733266669

Ethnographic study of two robot laboratories: ideas about future technology users emerge in engineering practice.

Generally, it is often assumed that technology development activities are distinct from the use context. Now we know that, rather than distinct, users are enacted as part of ongoing technology design activities. It are precisely the practices in which engineers are engaged that shape their ideas about future users. This is the finding of our most recent ethnographic study published in the journal Social Studies of Science.

As engineers build and develop new technologies, how do they imagine future users? Considering the rapid progress and development of artificial intelligence and robotics, and growing fears surrounding their impact on future societies, this has become a pertinent question. Ideas about future users can impact how new technologies are designed and implemented in our future societies.

Engineering practices evoke user images

So, how do engineers imagine future users? To answer this question, we joined engineers working in two robot laboratories over a period of 6 months, and observed how they  developed their technologies and articulated ideas about future users. What we found is that user images and design activities are related. Engineers develop ideas about possible use scenarios as these ideas are evoked by specific design activities; or – how we call them – ‘image-evoking activities’.

To better understand this phenomenon, we need to look at the detailed work that is done in the laboratories: As engineers go about their everyday work, they engage in different sub-actions, such as writing a software code, testing how codes affects the robot’s movements, or sharing these insights within the online community. Together, these sub-actions form broader activities, each with its own goal. We found four such activities from our observations:  to distinguish technology work from other types of work,  to expand what is technologically possible,  to universalize the applicability of the developed technologies, and  to make robots human-like.

With ‘image-evoking’, we mean that each of these activities evoked a set of use scenarios. For example, universalizing applicability caused the engineers to imagine scenarios of users in diverse industries, and making robots human-like came with images of robots replacing humans, in a variety of settings. To think about this breadth and variety of possible use scenarios available to engineers, it may be helpful to envision how these different scenarios form a ‘user image landscape’, with some images far in the background, some blurred and some rather self-evident.

How can this help technology development?

Well, technologies may fail if they do not correspond to the users’  wishes or desires. So, there is a need for suitable user images, to ensure that millions of investments into robotics and artificial intelligence do not go to waste. Our study speaks to this need. Through developing a better understanding of how users are imagined in practice, we are now beginning to learn how and where we can improve these images; and better tailor them to our needs and expectations.

Crucially, our findings suggest that we need to be more aware of the locales in which technologies are constructed. We have shown how ideas about future users are created in engineering practice, and these can have an impact on how future technologies are constructed. This means that the user is created within the laboratory, as part of ongoing design practices.  So, if we are to change certain practices or ways of imagining future users, we need to consider that our interventions, like user involvement or participatory design, need to fit into the practical realities in the laboratories. They need to connect to what the engineers’ everyday work looks like.

Everyday engineering in robot laboratories

What are the future roles for robots and humans, based on our study?

In our case, multiple future use scenarios became apparent: robots in different industries, in factories, in hospitals, in care facilities. Robots replacing human work, or parts of what humans do at the moment. These all seem possible future scenarios.  However, the impact of robots and increased automatization on our future society is the subject of ongoing debates. Millions of jobs might be threatened, but robots could also function as providing assistance or creating new jobs.

In this context, our study shows that there is a lot to learn by studying the context in which robots are built and created. And it implies that we do have to ask ourselves: What roles do we really want for robots and artificial intelligence to fulfill? Do we want them to replace humans? What are our societal needs? Only if we become clearer about our own desires can robot engineers possibly attend to them.

Robot for the future

You found this discussion interesting? Please share your opinion in the comments below, or contact me.  I am looking forward to hear your ideas!

You can find our original research article published online here for free

Björn Fischer is a PhD student in Technology and Health at KTH in Sweden. His current research focuses on science and technology studies, with a particular interest in engineering and design practices, and the link between technology and use. He is particularly concerned with understanding how technologies can be developed to suit the needs of older people. 
Email: bjorfisc@kth.se

New study shows that older people’s involvement matters, but it hasn’t reached its full potential.

Among companies, engineers and policy-makers, involving older people in design projects is an intervention of increasing popularity.  Our new study just published shows that involving older people is important for engineers and older users, but current practices may miss opportunities.  In our study, we reviewed previous design projects that involved older people in design processes, and investigated how this involvement mattered for the design outcome.  We found that the most common outcomes of older adults’ involvement were:  1) An increased learning by the designers about older people’s lives and needs.  2) A change in design based on the feedback and comments obtained by older people.  3) An appreciation by the older participants of being part in such technological procedures.

Link with technology acceptance and adoption

Interestingly, though, we did not find any evidence that acceptance and adoption were immediate consequences of user involvement of older people.  Acceptance and adoption, however, are often tirelessly proclaimed as the ultimate goals for involving older people:  The idea is that, through involvement, technologies could be tailored better to the needs of older people, and thereby achieve a higher acceptance within the older population.  Our study shows that, despite involvement, not many of these technologies eventually find their way into the homes of older people.  Current practices of involving older people, it seems, have not reached their full potential just yet.  But why is that?

As our study indicates, there may be a general underappreciation of the complexities of involving older people.  User involvement, as it appeared in our research, is not a linear model where you feed some older people into technology design, and “adoption” or “acceptance” automatically emerge at the other end.  Rather, it is an equation that is far more complicated than that, with multiple variables:  What roles do the older people play in the process?  What images and stereotypes exist about older people?  At which level or stage in the design process are they supposed to contribute?  For what purposes are they involved?  How are they selected in the first place?  And, how do designers themselves drive the involvement process?   Each variable can take a different value, and the outcome can look drastically different.

How, then, can we reach the full potential of user involvement?

Well, our research suggests that we need to break down the equation of user involvement, and critically examine its terms and parameters.  Often, older people are involved as passive receivers of technologies, suffering from physical decay and biomedical ailments.  If technologies are to become more appealing to the older population, we might want to question these assumptions, and invert parts of our ways of thinking.  Perhaps, we can involve older people differently, in more active roles, at higher levels, and with less stereotypical views.  What technologies could be built, then?

Following the findings of our research, we feel optimistic that older people’s involvement remains important for both older technology users and engineers, and believe that we should continue to explore what else it may offer.  As we begin to re-define how to include older people in design projects, yet undiscovered technologies may lie just around the corner.

If you found this discussion interesting, and wish to share your opinion: Please feel free to contact me.  I am eager to hear your ideas!

You can find our original review article published open access: https://doi.org/10.1093/geront/gnz163

Björn Fischer is a PhD student in Technology and Health at KTH in Sweden. His current research focuses on the social study of technology, with a particular interest in engineering and design practices, and user involvement. He is particularly concerned with understanding how technologies can be developed to suit the expectations of older people. Email: bjorfisc@kth.se