Poor well-being amongst older adults poses a serious health concern. Simultaneously, research shows that contact with nature can improve various facets of well-being, including physical, social, and mental well-being. However, nature is not always accessible for older adults due to mobility restrictions and related care needs that come with age. A promising strategy aims at bringing nature inside through pervasive technologies. However, so far, there is little academic understanding of essential nature characteristics, psychological processes involved, and means for implementation in practice. The current study used a three-folded rapid review to assess current understanding and strategies used for improving well-being for older adults through virtual reality representations of nature. Searches were performed across three databases, followed-up by content-based evaluation of abstracts. In total, a set of 25 relevant articles was identified. Only three studies specifically focus on digital nature as an intervention strategy for improving well-being amongst older adults. Although these studies provide useful starting points for the design and (technological) development of such environments, they do not generate understanding of how specific characteristics of virtual nature representations impact social well-being measures in particular, and of the underlying psychological processes involved. We conclude that follow-up research is warranted to close the gap between insights and findings from nature research, gerontology, health research, and human-technology interaction.
Research into automatic text simplification aims to promote access to information for all members of society. To facilitate generalizability, simplification research often abstracts away from specific use cases, and targets a prototypical reader and an underspecified content creator. In this paper, we consider a real-world use case – simplification technology for use in Dutch municipalities – and identify the needs of the content creators and the target audiences in this scenario. The stakeholders envision a system that (a) assists the human writer without taking over the task; (b) provides diverse outputs, tailored for specific target audiences; and (c) explains the suggestions that it outputs. These requirements call for technology that is characterized by modularity, explainability, and variability. We argue that these are important research directions that require further exploration
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Dutch industrial manufacturers are confronted a new and promising industrial robot: the collaborative robot (cobot). These small robotic arms are revolutionary as they allow direct and safe interaction with production workers for the very first time. The direct interaction between production worker and cobot has the potential to not only increase efficiency, but also enhance flexibility as it can align the strengths of (wo)man and machine more thoroughly. Currently, Dutch manufacturers are experimenting with cobots. To obtain a first understanding about the use of cobots in Dutch industrial practice and what the consequences are for operators and production work, we conducted an exploratory interview study (N=61). We learnt that most cobots under study are used for the production of one or a few large product batches (mass production) and work highly autonomous. The interaction between cobot and production worker is limited and reduced to operators preventing the cobot from falling into a standstill. The results tend to be in line with traditional industrial automation practices: an overemphasis on leveraging the technology’s potential and limited attention for the production workers’ work design and decision latitude. HR professionals were not involved and, therefore, miss out on a crucial opportunity to be of an added value.
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