The 'implementation' and use of smart home technology to lengthen independent living of non-instutionalized elderly have not always been flawless. The purpose of this study is to show that problems with smart home technology can be partially ascribed to differences in perception of the stakeholders involved. The perceptual worlds of caregivers, care receivers, and designers vary due to differences in background and experiences. To decrease the perceptual differences between the stakeholders, we propose an analysis of the expected and experienced effects of smart home technology for each group. For designers the effects will involve effective goals, caregivers are mainly interested in effects on workload and quality of care, while care receivers are influenced by usability effects. Making each stakeholder aware of the experienced and expected effects of the other stakeholders may broaden their perspectives and may lead to more successful implementations of smart home technology, and technology in general.
DOCUMENT
This article analyses four of the most prominent city discourses and introduces the lens of urban vitalism as an overarching interdisciplinary concept of cities as places of transformation and change. We demonstrate the value of using urban vitalism as a lens to conceptualize and critically discuss different notions on smart, inclusive, resilient and sustainable just cities. Urban vitalism offers a process-based lens which enables us to understand cities as places of transformation and change, with people and other living beings at its core. The aim of the article is to explore how the lens of vitalism can help us understand and connect ongoing interdisciplinary academic debates about urban development and vice versa, and how these ongoing debates inform our understanding of urban vitalism.
DOCUMENT
SEEV4-City is an innovation project funded by the European Union Interreg North Sea Region Programme. Its main objective is to demonstrate smart electric mobility and integration of renewable energy solutions and share the learnings gained. The project reports on the results of six Operational Pilots (OPs) which have different scales and are located in five different cities in four different countries in the North Sea Region.Loughborough OP (United Kingdom) is the smallest pilot, being a household with a bi-directional EV charging unit for the Nissan Leaf, a stationary battery, and a PV system. In the Kortrijk OP (Belgium), a battery system and a bi-directional charging unit for the delivery van (as well as a smart charging station for ebikes) were added to the energy system. In Leicester (United Kingdom), five unidirectional charging units were to be accompanied by four bi-directional charging units. The Johan Cruyff Arena OP is a larger pilot in Amsterdam, with a 2.8 MWh (partly) second life stationary battery storage for Frequency Control Regulation services and back-up power, 14 fast chargers and one bi-directional charger. Integrated into the existing energy system is a 1 MW PV system that is already installed on the roof. In the Oslo OP, 102 chargers were installed, of which two are fast chargers. A stationary battery energy storage system (BESS) supports the charging infrastructure and is used for peak shaving. The FlexPower OP in Amsterdam is the largest OP with over 900 EV charging outlets across the city, providing smart charging capable of reducing the energy peak demand in the evening.Before the start of the project, three Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) were determined:A. Estimated CO2 reductionB. Estimated increase in energy autonomyC. Estimated Savings from Grid Investment Deferral
DOCUMENT
The effectiveness of smart home technology in home care situations depends on the acceptance and use of the technology by both users and end-users. In the Netherlands many projects have started to introduce smart home technology and telecare in the homes of elderly people, but only some have been successful. In this paper, features for success and failure in the deployment of new (ICT) technology in home care are used to revise the technology acceptance model (TAM) into a model that explains the use of smart home and telecare technology by older adults. In the revised model we make the variable 'usefulness' more specific, by describing the benefits of the technology that are expected to positively affect technology usage. Additionally, we state that several moderator variables - that are expected to influence this effect - should be added to the model in order to explain why people eventually do (not) use smart home technology, despite the benefits and the intention to use. We categorize these variables, that represent the problems found in previous studies, in 'accessibility', 'facilitating conditions' and 'personal variables'.
DOCUMENT
From November 2013 till January 2014 a minor ‘Smart Life Rhythms’ was taught at The Hague University of Applied Sciences. In the minor students used service design methods to develop solutions for improving life rhythms. Reflection on the minor produced the insight that building physical prototypes early on in the design process was key to success. Further discussions with colleagues and a literature review gave more arguments for the motto ‘Just build it’ – an encouragement to build simple physical models in the early stages of the service design process. Building these simple physical models is not just advocated by educators and in line with service design principles such as being iterative and user-centered. In his book ‘the Craftsman’ (Sennett, 2009) Richard Sennett provides us with more fundamental arguments regarding the value of ‘making things’. On top of the added value to the design process in itself, simple physical models are a tool for engaging both clients, users and students in the design process. So get out your glue gun and start building!
DOCUMENT
Urban ageing is an emerging domain that deals with the population of older people living in cities. The ageing of society is a positive yet challenging phenomenon, as population ageing and urbanisation are the culmination of successful human development. One could argue whether the city environment is an ideal place for people to grow old and live at an old age compared to rural areas. This viewpoint article explores and describes the challenges that are encountered when making cities age-friendly in Europe. Such challenges include the creation of inclusive neighbourhoods and the implementation of technology for ageing-in-place. Examples from projects in two age-friendly cities in The Netherlands (The Hague) and Poland (Cracow) are shown to illustrate the potential of making cities more tuned to the needs of older people and identify important challenges for the next couple of years. Overall, the global ageing of urban populations calls for more age-friendly approaches to be implemented in our cities. It is a challenge to prepare for these developments in such a way that both current and future generations of older people can benefit from age-friendly strategies. CC-BY Original article: https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph15112473 https://www.dehaagsehogeschool.nl/onderzoek/lectoraten/details/urban-ageing#over-het-lectoraat
MULTIFILE
Assistive Technology (AT) is used at various points in the lifespan by those coping with either short-term or long-term impairments, which can involve living with chronic conditions and/or comorbidities. In the case of older adults, AT can support or compensate for the functional or cognitive declines that they are likely to face in later life. AT can be integrated as part of smart homes (see Figure 1 from van Dijken et al, 2006); and should be safe to use, effective, easy to access, affordable, and not seen as stigmatising. In addition, AT should support older adults to have a meaningful life while building self-esteem, and autonomy and promoting social participation and community engagement. For this roundtable discussion, we present and discuss a WHO-ISG collaborative project focused on Assistive Technology for Healthy Ageing. For this project, we consider applications and use AT not only from a medical standpoint but also situated within a social perspective in the context of Gerontechnology. Results and propositions according to the WHO-UNICEF global report on assistive technology were applied as a starting point for this project (WHO, 2022), prioritising the potential benefits to individuals, their communities, and society and with a focus on identifying potential barriers that may occur and how to mitigate them.
LINK
In the context of developing mentor teachers' use of supervisory skills, two consecutive studies were conducted, using stimulated recall. Firstly, with eight participants, an instrument was developed to categorize contents of interactive cognitions. Secondly, with 30 participants, the instrument was applied to uncover contents of mentor teachers' interactive cognitions, before and after training in supervisory skills. After training, mentor teachers demonstrate an increased awareness of their use of supervisory skills. This indicates that mentor teachers not only seem to emphasize pupil learning and needs when conducting a mentoring dialogue, but simultaneously focus on their own supervisory behaviour.
DOCUMENT
Introduction: Sensor-feedback systems can be used to support people after stroke during independent practice of gait. The main aim of the study was to describe the user-centred approach to (re)design the user interface of the sensor feedback system “Stappy” for people after stroke, and share the deliverables and key observations from this process. Methods: The user-centred approach was structured around four phases (the discovery, definition, development and delivery phase) which were fundamental to the design process. Fifteen participants with cognitive and/or physical limitations participated (10 women, 2/3 older than 65). Prototypes were evaluated in multiple test rounds, consisting of 2–7 individual test sessions. Results: Seven deliverables were created: a list of design requirements, a personae, a user flow, a low-, medium- and high-fidelity prototype and the character “Stappy”. The first six deliverables were necessary tools to design the user interface, whereas the character was a solution resulting from this design process. Key observations related to “readability and contrast of visual information”, “understanding and remembering information”, “physical limitations” were confirmed by and “empathy” was additionally derived from the design process. Conclusions: The study offers a structured methodology resulting in deliverables and key observations, which can be used to (re)design meaningful user interfaces for people after stroke. Additionally, the study provides a technique that may promote “empathy” through the creation of the character Stappy. The description may provide guidance for health care professionals, researchers or designers in future user interface design projects in which existing products are redesigned for people after stroke.
DOCUMENT
