Skype call it "ambient video"

The basic concept of the Teletalker i.e. providing a constant online window into the other space is not new, although the means to activate the volume is. On Skype's blog they call it "ambient video". Skype refers back how they have their offices around the world connected in this way, but interestingly the skype computer is not near the work place, but in the break out area near the water cooler - a place that invites for a chat. read full skype blog here

Conference proceedings: Age & experience - ludic engagement in a residential care setting

Authors: Blythe, M., Wright, P., Bowers, J., Boucher, A., Jarvis, N., Reynolds, P., Gaver, B. wrote "Age and experience: Ludic engagement in a residential care setting" for the Designing Interactive Systems conference in Aarhus, Denmark 2010
The article is about findings from a 2 years study at a residential care home where ideas for cross-generational engagement through ludic systems were developed. Huizinga introduced with his book "homo ludens" the idea that humans are essentially playful creatures. In this research ludic activities were explored which engage people's curiosity, diversion and humour rather than logic or labour effectiveness. For this they developed:
1. video window
2. projected portraitures
3. blank canvas
4. soundscape radio
In opposite to the notion of a "ticket-to-talk" - which could be an exhausting experience for the residents - they introduced the idea of the "ticket-to-be-silent". In this project two artists worked with the residents; one of them drew portraits of individual the residents. It was an opportunity to be part of the creation, but not having to talk. Those images were later exhibited in the local town.
I really enjoyed reading this article since the researchers describe how they constantly had to resist the urge to design something 'useful' and to think of ideas that are playful. The article also stresses the challenges working with the group of the oldest old where getting from one chair to another or having a conversation is exhausting. The concept of inter-passivity was also introduced to describe the 'passive' use of technology by the oldest old (which isn't passive, but the obverse of interaction) in those cross-generational uses. Particularly appealing to me was the idea of the video window - a camera set on top of the roof and the view was displayed in a picture frame in the room. Residents would not spontaneously comment how they like it, but complain when it was forgotten to be switched on the next day.

Article of the Teletalker research in the Age UK Barnet newsletter

(Instead of a button) I used a light sensitive receptor, which activated the volume by just touching the area i.e. covering the receptor, so no 'pushing strength' needed.

Over one in three 3-4 year-olds use the internet

In Ofcom's annual Children’s Media Use and Attitudes report I found some information interesting. The users of smart phones and tablets are getting younger. This year the report looked for the first time media use among 3 and 4 year-olds. "The findings indicate that 37% use the internet via a PC, laptop or netbook, 6% via a tablet computer, and 3% via a mobile phone." Also impressive (and scary) for me to read was how many friends a child aged 8-15 have on their social networking profile has. "Children aged 8-11 have an average of 92 friends and children aged 12- 15 say they have, on average, 286 friends. Children aged 8-11 estimate that they have not met around one in eight (12%) of these friends in person (an average of 11 people per child) while 12-15s say they have not met around one in four (25%) - an average of 72 people per child." Read the full report here

The like-a-hug project

Just reading about this interactive garment, which is connected to Facebook's 'like'. The Like-A-Hug project is a "wearable social media vest", developed by Melissa Kit Chow in collaboration with Andy Payne and Phil Seaton, as part of the MIT Media Lab's Tangible Media Group. They came up with the concept over a casual conversation about long-distance relationships and the limitations of video chat interfaces like Skype.

I wonder however if someone really wants to wear the jacket all the time and receive hugs at random moments or whether it is not crucial to actually feel the body warmth and sense the smell of the other person. Think it might be very useful if you do research in the arctic :-) Though it has to be said that this project can be considered as an provocative art project... Read full blog here

Turkle's: "Connected, but alone"

I subscribe to Turkle's talk: "Connected, but alone" on TED. "I share, therefore I am". She gives plenty of examples where this situation happens; where we are together, but alone since we're only connecting through digital devices. I notice this very much on the train these days, everybody staring at their phones and tablets. I feel she's right about calling for a reflective use of technology and that we need to develop a more self-aware relationship with our electronic devices, with each other and with ourselves. We need to create space for solitude, so we can appreciate ourselves and are able to really connect and listen to people. See the full talk here

Another example of a social networking site for older people that didn't work

iYomu - a site that was set up in 2007 and which failed after only a year. It's confirming my research results: older people don't necessarily want a social networking site separate to existing websites (which are also used by younger people) Read here why iYomu failed.

When does 'middle age' start and finish?

Interesting article on the BBC about the perceptions of age. It's mostly a "state of mind". Read article here

NY times Article: the high price of loneliness

This article sums up how tricky it is to measure the consequences of loneliness experienced with age. What does it mean to be lonely? "62.5 percent of older adults who reported being lonely in this new study were married" read the article here

Trend: increasingly more older internet user

The latest estimates by the ONS confirm that the number of older Internet users between 65-74 years is increasing. When I started my studies in 2008 only about about 20percent of the 65plus category (in those days ONS didn't differentiate between 65-74 and 75+) had regularly used the Internet. The group of 75+ years old are with 29% the smallest group of Internet users. Read the ONS Internet access report update here.

the joy of reminiscence

Mid July I had to speak to the local TV & areal business to sort out our television. Bernard came over to check out our leads, sockets and areal connections. I guessed Bernard to be over 60 years old - at some point he mentioned that he had been through 3 marriages. We ended up chatting about my research and I showed him a website which I used as a resource for inspiration for the Teletalker design.
He absolutely loved it. It made his day he said and wrote down the link to the site. He surely will sit down in the evening and look at the visuals of the old TVs... why has made this day, because he repaired them when he was 13 years old or a bit older - the visuals take him back to he youth ... he hasn't seen those television sets in ages
I felt very happy for him and that I accidentally gave him a tool (the websites) to revisit experiences from the past. Being German and living in the UK I noticed how difficult it is to be reminded of things from my German past. If I'd like to create memories of that time I either need to dig out the photo album or I need to be prompted by someone German... although the German and English culture are pretty similar there are not many things here that remind me of my childhood or teenage days.

My key learnings from the ISG and ISARC conference in Eindhoven 26 - 29th June 2012

Topic: who is afraid of aging? (This topic wasn’t mentioned at all again during the conference talks, at least not in those I attended)
All projects were subscribing to the idea of supporting independent living, self-efficacy and quality of life when growing older. Technology was seen as the key vehicle to enable this (this is also aim of the ISG). The ISARC part of the conference investigated the use of robots in delivering care and support for daily living as well as in construction.

Overall it seemed that all projects were very context dependent (which is in line with a heterogeneous user group ). The technology acceptance model – TAM (e.g. Venkatesh and Davis 2000) was referred to in several talks. Only in one talk (by Bouwhuis on telecare adoption) it was pointed out that a person does not act rational, but irrational and that ‘the actual use’ influences behavioral intention and therefore perceived ease of use and usefulness, i.e. reversing the TAM model.

All projects related to the use of video telephony were related to 'Telehealth or Telecare'. Telehealth always included a button for emergency situations and a service to contact health staff, GP surgeries or social workers. Sometimes personal monitoring data (diabetes, blood pressure) was exchanged or repeat prescription were possible to order.
There was a least one Taiwanese robot, which offered the option (among many options) to video call a family member or friend… this robot is still in prototyping stage and suffers in my opinion function overload.
It was noticeable in the Telehealth projects that acceptance of the technology was quite low and most reactions from the users were "useful, but not for me at the moment", unless they experienced an emergency. It seemed that the cost for implementing this service was a lot greater than the savings when the service was used.
The most frequently mentioned problems of working with the user group of elderly people (people over 75 or in their eighties) were that there was a lack of interest, a type of resignation or ‘engagement fatigue’ (SOPRANO project).

My criticism about the conference
I didn't feel that the conference reflected on the negative side of technology use or where technology has really a place in the older person's life. Also the ‘older person’s life’ was in my opinion not clearly enough defined.
For example, a speaker from Valencia made a very ‘showy’ commercial advertising their stamp of approval of good design for the ‘elderly’ – not being aware that ‘elderly’ in the UK has the connotation of being frail… this may have been a simple language problem, but I feel the conference didn’t look closely enough at attitudes towards technology by older people or by designers.
The world of Gerontechnology seems to be dominated with projects by the industrial developed and mainly ‘white’ countries. There were no representatives from the African continent, nor the Middle East. Mainly Europe, America, Brazil and China, Korea, Japan mainly involved in ISARC were represented.
Even though there was a re-occurring theme of problems of working with older people and technology acceptance by older people, it didn’t seem that projects could learn from each other – I think it would have very beneficial to have some panel discussion where the speakers could have exchanged their views.
Personally, I feel that technology gets in the way of growing older (which for me comes down to taking time for yourself & health, meditate and reflect, feel in sync with the world and give back to the younger generation) - I do think that technology has a place to support care givers in their work helping older people, people with dementia and as a tool for daily living tasks (which would be good for people of any age) and as a tool for communication.

Poster: Teletalker - an online window to connect older adults

At the ISG I presented my poster about my research field research with the Teletalker. Field research took place from 12th - 15th June 2012 between the Day centre Age UK Barnet and the atrium Middlesex University.

Summary of main findings:
* The Teletalker worked well as an introduction for older people to online face-to-face communication
* Signage is needed to make the purpose of the Teletalker clearer
* Communication through the Teletalker worked better when there was a person at one end all the time
* Physical placement of the Teletalker was crucial for getting people to try it out and to connect older adults

At the ISG*ISARC conference

At the moment I'm at the ISG conference in Eindhoven. The ISARC part of the conference is all about robots, which I find fascinating. With fellow academics I discussed the question whether the majority of older people are still likely to be out of touch with technology in 20years time (even though by then the majority will be proficient Internet users)? There is the possibility that other technologies have been developed where the older person (including me by then) may not feel the need of wanting to learn. What is your view? Tomorrow I will be talking about my research: the Teletalker - an online window to connect older adults. With this research I investigate how to make online face to face communication easier for everyone... in particular for technological novices. From 11th June to 15th June I conducted field research with the Teletalker between Middlesex University and AgeUk Barnet. I'm still analyzing my observations, but here is a little video to give you a feeling for how it went.

Martha Lane-Fox introduces the Digital Unite Academy

Digital Unite Academy offers a Digital Champion ITQ (accredited by city & guilds) for people who are interested in helping other people to learn the computer. Martha Lane-Fox introduces the Digital Unite Academy in this little video. I agree with her that most people are not aware of the benefits of what you can do online and that it is people power what would bring more people online. Am just surprised to find that she's worried whether she's going to pass the ITQ course - not sure how encouraging this is.

External and internal locus of control

This Monday I listened to BBC4 Mind changers about Julian Rotter's measurement of internal and external locus of control. Depending on the person's perception of where the control lies for events they deal differently with life situations. If you have an internal locus of control you might be a 'go getter' and believing that you can change things. If you have an external locus of control you might believe that a higher power has decided events for you and that you can't do anything about it and this can show in for example "learnt helplessness". Particularly interesting for me was to hear that the locus of control changes with age and how it changes to an external locus in regards to health aspects. The Lifespan Developmental Psychology Laboratory at Brandeis University did research on this. Another interesting aspect for me was to hear how Julian Rotter was an academic, but he was also a keen sportsman and poker player and that these activities were for him as important as his research. Which feds my opinion to be a rounded, happy and enlightened person one should not only seek to accumulate knowledge but also to be in sync with your body through either sports or meditation. Surely poker can be seen as a form of meditation :-)

European Year of Active Ageing

2012 is the European Year of Active Ageing. here is the link to the EU website - the about section I find the events calendar on the right-hand side particularly interesting.

Life's third act

I recently watched with my mother-in-law (in her seventies) the talk by Jane Fonda "Life's third act" on TED talks. view talk here I really enjoyed her talk and thought that the analogy of life as 'going upstairs' (rather than going up some steps and after peaking, going the steps down) was very apt. My mother-in-law felt that most of it was very true. When I probed she said that she couldn't remember the details but it felt that way. She made, however, the point that Jane Fonda is someone who has sufficient money and that an older person's development might be very different when they have money worries. I couldn't disagree with this, and now wonder how for example a homeless older person experience life.

Introducing the Social Gerontology Group at Uppsala University

I only recently came across the theory of gero-transcendence, which made me aware of Lars Tornstam from Uppsala University. He developed the theory of gero-transcendence as answer to the discredited disengagement theory. Gero-transcendence, in a nutshell, is a shift in meta perspective, from a materialistic and rational view of the world to a more cosmic and transcendent one, normally accompanied by an increase in life satisfaction. Gero-transcencende is a possible natural progression with growing older towards maturation and wisdom. Lars Tornstam and team form the Social Gerontology Group at Uppsala University, which did work within the framework of the national multidisciplinary gerontological program - Elderly in Society - Past, Present and in the Future. Their current and past research output can be found here

Paper:"Embracing ambiguity in the design of non-stigmatizing digital technology for social interaction among senior citizen

Sokoler and Svensson used ethnographic research methods to learn about social interaction between older residents of 3 senior housing facilities in Sweden. They found that everyday activities such as going on walks or doing the gardening provide a 'ticket to talk' with unacquainted older people. They are argue that many everyday activities in public or semi-public places open opportunities for social interaction because it leaves room for ambiguities and unspoken non-explicit intention where people can choose to take part in interaction. They provide the example of the 'gardening lot' where people pass by, rest on a bench, have brief conversations, swap tools and plants. They suggest that designers (of digital technology for social interaction) deliberately leave room for ambiguity to make it possible for people to leave their intentions of use unarticulated. The thought of ambiguity and 'not labelling what it is for' supports my current design idea of the 'teletalker'. However, the 'teletalker' system itself would not be integrated 'invisibly' in everyday activities, but be placed in a semi-public place to evoke curiosity. I write more about my idea once I achieved prototyping stage. T. Sokoler, M.S. Svensson: Embracing ambiguity in the design of non-stigmatizing digital technology for social interaction among senior citizens Behaviour & Information Technology, Vol 26, No.4, July-August 2007, 297 - 307

Do latest technologies empowered silver surfers really exist?

Title: Older adults' use of information and communications technology in everyday life NEIL SELWYN,STEPHEN GORARD, JOHN FURLONG,LOUISE MADDEN Ageing and Society (2003), 23 : pp 561-582 Albeit this paper is from 2003 (and I only just discovered it!) it's reassuring to read similar findings to the ones I have made with my research. I believe that not much has changed in the landscape of older adults' ICT use since 2003. Selwyn et al write: "Above all it is clear that to conceptualise all older adults with the popular notion of a polarisation between the ‘cannots’ and the highly empowered silver surfers is misleading. Indeed, the construction of the highly resourced, motivated silver surfer using ICTs for a range of ‘high-tech’ applications is erroneous." The paper concludes by considering how political and academic assumptions about older people and ICTs might be refocused, away from trying to ‘change’ older adults, and towards involving them in changing ICT. Can someone provide me with an example of a highly resourced and motivated silver surfer? reference to the paper

Why an ageing population is an encouraging sign

Hania Zlotnik, director of the UN Population Division, sees an ageing population as an encouraging sign since people have fewer children. In her opinion the greatest challenge for an ageing world population is economic adaptation. By 2050, more than one in five of the 9 billion people on Earth will be over the age of 60, according to a U.N. report. read article here read article about newest population numbers here