Social Contexts, Agency, and Conflicts: Exploring Critical Aspects of Design for Future Smart Home Technologies

Smart devices are increasingly being designed for, and adopted in, the home environment. Prior scholarship has investigated the challenges that users face as they take up these devices in their homes. However, little is known about when and how users or potential users would prefer future domestic Internet of Things (IoT) to support their activities in home settings. To fill this gap, we conducted two co-design workshops, an in-home activity between the two sessions, and pre- and post-study interviews with 18 adult participants, who had diverse levels of prior experience of IoT use. Our findings contribute new insights into how smart home devices could adapt their behavior based on social contexts; how to re-imagine agency and support useful intelligibility; and how to resolve user-driven conflict by providing appropriate information about those with whom devices are shared. Finally, based on these findings, we discuss the implications of our work and provide a set of design considerations from which designers of future smart home technologies can benefit.

Verbal Expression and Mother’s Desperation about Their Children with Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder

Parents who have children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) are challenging because these children are special and need special treatment. Because they are challenging, parents need support from their inner or outer circle. One of the strategies to get a support is by expressing what they feel. Feelings can be expressed in various ways, verbal and non-verbal. It can be in a non-formal situation like having a conversation in a community or a home environment. Thus, this research aims to describe the verbal expressions and desperation of the mothers to raise their children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). This research uses phenomenological method called Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) because this study focuses on interpretive processes in understanding participants’ experiences ideographically. 25 participants are observed and interviewed in-depth regarding their experiences in raising their children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). The participants’ verbal expression of desperation are classified into seven themes: Repeating the same instruction or warning over and over, Being different and isolated, Mess things up in the house, Could not stay still and unpredictable, Aggressiveness, irritation and tantrums, Extra effort for visual learner, Child lacks of motivation. The results show that the feeling of desperation persistently happened because it is difficult to understand the characteristics of a child with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). The also admit that it is difficult to make normal children and mothers to accept their circumstances. Meanwhile, other participants state that they seek more information and knowledge about ADHD by joining a community to get help or support psychologically and medically, practice and more practice at home in order to help their children grow better.

Kepemilikan Fasilitas Sanitasi Dasar Rumah Tangga Di Desa Air Selumar Kecamatan Sijuk Kabupaten Belitung

Ownership of basic sanitation facilities of the house is one of the conditions of a healthy home. Health problems in the home environment can not be separated from the level of knowledge, attitude, income of the head of the family and the number of dependents of the head of the family. It is seen that there are still people who do not have thoughts about the importance of basic sanitation for their lives and there are still many people who do not have basic sanitation facilities. The purpose of this study is to find out the factors related to the ownership of basic household sanitation facilities in Selumar Water Village, Sijuk Subdistrict, Belitung Regency.This study uses observational analytics method with cross sectional approach. The samples in this study numbered 101 samples, using proportional random sampling method. Research instruments are questionnaires and checklists. Data analysis is performed using Chi square test. Bivariate analysis results show there is a relationship between the level of knowledge and the ownership of basic household sanitation facilities p value=0.000, there is a relationship between attitude with the ownership of basic household sanitation facilities p value=0.005, there is a relationship between the level of income and the ownership of basic household sanitation facilities p value=0.000, there is a relationship between the number of family members and the ownership of basic household sanitation facilities p value=0.016. The level of knowledge, attitude, income level and number of family members relates to the ownership of basic household sanitation facilities in Selumar Water Village, Sijuk Subdistrict, Belitung Regency

Holocue: A Wearable Holographic Cueing Application for Alleviating Freezing of Gait in Parkinson's Disease

External visual cueing is a well-known means to target freezing of gait (FOG) in Parkinson's disease patients. Holocue is a wearable visual cueing application that allows the HoloLens 1 mixed-reality headset to present on-demand patient-tailored action-relevant 2D and 3D holographic visual cues in free-living environments. The aim of this study involving 24 Parkinson's disease patients with dopaminergic “ON state” FOG was two-fold. First, to explore unfamiliarity and habituation effects associated with wearing the HoloLens on FOG. Second, to evaluate the potential immediate effect of Holocue on alleviating FOG in the home environment. Three sessions were conducted to examine (1) the effect of wearing the unfamiliar HoloLens on FOG by comparing walking with and without the HoloLens, (2) habituation effects to wearing the HoloLens by comparing FOG while walking with HoloLens over sessions, and (3) the potential immediate effect of Holocue on FOG by comparing walking with HoloLens with and without Holocue. Wearing the HoloLens (without Holocue) did significantly increase the number and duration of FOG episodes, but this unfamiliarity effect disappeared with habituation over sessions. This not only emphasizes the need for sufficient habituation to unfamiliar devices, but also testifies to the need for research designs with appropriate control conditions when examining effects of unfamiliar wearable cueing devices. Holocue had overall no immediate effect on FOG, although objective and subjective benefits were observed for some individuals, most notably those with long and/or many FOG episodes. Our participants raised valuable opportunities to improve Holocue and confirmed our assumptions about current and anticipated future design choices, which supports ongoing Holocue development for and with end users.

Randomized Control Trials with Schools: Handling Real-World Practicalities and Problems

There is a need for more evidence-based research in education and research involving the use of randomized control trials (RCTs) to examine the efficacy of interventions. However, the difficulty of conducting interventional research in educational settings is often less acknowledged. This article provides practical examples of the issues encountered when implementing a cognitive science informed intervention and the solutions that were successfully implemented. This article will also highlight the importance of designing a multifaceted intervention while considering the cost of the intervention itself, especially when working with hard-to-reach families. It is helpful to make use of existing classroom resources in the intervention to lower costs. Additionally, being consistent and attentive to the developmental stage of the children and supporting parental engagement are two aspects that are crucial to the implementation of the intervention. Researchers would benefit from conducting workshops and public engagement events and can use these opportunities to provide practical strategies about how to support the development of children’s skills in the home environment. In-person interactions are key as parents can ask any questions that they may have, and it can help to dispel any mistrust that they may have with the research process. The article also provides suggestions for building the researcher-practitioner relationship from study onset, including being flexible and accommodating towards the changes in the school context and communicating effectively with teachers. Lastly, the article outlines the benefit of using scaffolding, positive reinforcement, and play-based learning over the course of the intervention to support child outcomes.