Author: stavroulla

CONNECT project’s latest physical consortium meeting was hosted by us, at the University of Cyprus premises, in Nicosia, Cyprus, on the 8th and 9th of June. After those two days of hard work, the partners are now on track and very ready to keep pursuing an online education of higher quality.

The second physical DIGIWATER meeting between the partners, May 31st, at the IFAT, Munich premises. IFAT is the world’s largest platform for water, sewage, waste and raw materials management, and there are many activities beyond digital water, demonstrating some DIGIWATER info and results there too.

For more information about the project visit: https://waterharmony.net/digiwater/

On the 24th and 25th of May we had the pleasure to host a physical meeting for REBEL project here, at the University of Cyprus campus in Nicosia, Cyprus.

The plan was to go over our evaluation framework, agree about the specifics for the upcoming MOOC, as well as discuss our dissemination and upcoming reports.

And that we did!

Additionally, the partners, had the chance to learn about, exchange ideas with, and become inspired by the D-COLLAB project partners and other related projects our lab is currently participating in.

For more information about the project: http://rebelproject.eu/

The project’s second meeting was organized in Brno, Czech Republic, on September 27&28, 2021. It was a hybric meeting, with some partners attending it physically and others online.

Starting with a welcoming presentation the leading partners of the project, the partners introduced themselves, proceeded to discuss curriculum and innovative learning scenarios and decided on their next steps.

The SEIT Lab’s team (UCY) attended the meeting physically and included Constantinos Xenofontos and Marios Kyprianou.

The increasing demand for healthcare services is changing the required skills in the health sector.

The Erasmus+ Digi4Me project addresses the skills insufficiency of the health sector and looks into determining the digital skills that every health professional should possess in order to use eHealth solutions correctly and effectively.

Click here to watch an introductory video!

To find out more about the Digi4Me visit the project’s website at https://digi4me.eu/

What are we without memory? It is possible to face daily challenges by forgetting who we are or the name of the objects that surround us.

Memory is a territory still to be explored for science, but research is well underway. 

The term memory indicates cognitive capacity thanks to which we are able to store data and carry out actions. 

The valuable activity carried out by the faculty of remembering and is divided into

• long-term memory (indefinite duration)
• short-term memory (small amount of information for 20/30 seconds)

Daily activities are characterized by recurring gestures. If we wanted to present an example, we could resort to the procedural memory that we activate when we are driving: we learn a series of actions that, repeated frequently, do not come to consciousness and are performed automatically. It emerges by itself that memory is the control center of our activities, and must be preserved. However, with advancing age it is possible to encounter some problems with the ability to remember, such as Alzheimer’s and dementia. 

These disorders are characterized by the inability to perform simple functions, also compromising the autobiographical memory and the relationship with loved ones.

The difficulties do not only involve the person affected by the disorder, but also extend to the family, which will have to constantly monitor the elderly. 

Memory-related functions don’t just affect the older.

Implementing tools to support “weak” people pursues a double objective: to protect the health of those affected by these diseases and to alleviate the concerns of families.

ESticky acts as a technological link between individuals and families, ensuring the transmission of information on the activities undertaken during the day.

Communications and technology influence each other. When health problems arise, devices equipped with artificial intelligence can help the psychophysical improvement of subjects.

Many studies are oriented towards the development of user friendly devices that can safeguard human autonomy and well-being.

A word that cannot be missing in the vocabulary of a good device – particularly if it has to support people suffering from complex diseases – is accessibility.

The eSticky project takes shape from the encounter between care and technological development

participates in the Suitceyes symposium, thanks to the contribution of @Harpo Sp. z o.o, with a speech aimed at emphasizing the importance of the display, as the main support tool for the elderly.

The Symposium promoted by SUITCEYES promotes discussion on life through the event – Living Through Touch – Smart, Haptic Communication for Inclusion, Accessibility, and Participation.

The event page is available at the following link https://suitceyes.eu/program/

The chromatic agreement or disagreement helps to define the device in terms of usability.

Furthermore, the choice of colors predominantly affects the emotions and predisposition of the subjects. The display is the interface with which we interact most and enhancing its appearance facilitates its usability.

People with senile dementia or Alzheimer’s cannot deal with complex or confusingly colored devices. Another aspect on which eSticky has focused with particular attention is the font of the texts, which participate in the effectiveness of the device.

Colors are an expression of our state of mind and what we want to convey: psychology is influenced by colors, and this internal dynamic is widely demonstrated by numerous scientific researches. In this context, the need emerges to develop a system aimed at enhancing the user through the digital experiential dimension, building a responsive display with a simplified interface. This is one of the topics covered in the eSticky meeting held in February and April.

The revolution brought about by the introduction of ICT (information communication technology) favors social well-being by introducing intelligent systems.

Emerging technologies, applied in every field, in order to obtain satisfactory results, require a solid phase of experimentation.

Great satisfaction for the first technical test of the eSticky hardware.

The company HICS, parent company of the eSticky project, starts the test phase on the hardware system of the digital post-it and the partners contribute to the start of the test.

The consortium, created to help people with cognitive difficulties related to the use of memory, invests in bluetooth low energy technology and wi-fi remote connection.

The hardware model designed for the use of eSticky is subjected to the first testing tests, with the aim of observing, evaluating and analyzing the results. 

Interface, usability and reaction times are part of the procedures belonging to the ICT dimension since they require empirical observation and verification.

The final test of a product is crucial for production and distribution on the market: if you are unable to pass the test phase, you need to review the entire hardware architecture.

Dementia doesn’t take a break in times of the coronavirus.

The circumstances caused by loneliness and less interaction have tended to exacerbate the situations for those affected and their relatives.

Therefore it was most important for us to listen to the concerns, worries and wishes of those affected, their relatives and carers mainly in relation to help, that our new eSticky product will be able to give.

In November and December 2020 we performed user tests of eSticky UI mockups. They were tested during the end user sessions in Poland and Austria.

Generally so far 27 users, primary, secondary and professional carers (9 men and 18 women in the age of 34-67 from urban and rural areas), have given their opinion. Their IT literacy was evenly spread among participating users between little, medium and high (but all users had at least a little experience with IT systems). Unfortunately, due to the regulations in force, most of the interviews in 2020 had to take place online.

The UI has been perceived positively in general. We were also able to take good suggestions and ideas with us and give them to our colleagues in the EU project for design and technical development.

The KickOff meeting took virtual place on November 23, 2020 on the MS Teams platform with participation of all project partners.

After the welcome presentation of the leader of the project (SAS), the leader presented Slovak Academy of Sciences, its research background and present activities and the base assumptions of the project.

During the second section of the meeting, all partners introduced themselves and then the ALIVE project overview, project timeline and budget were presented by the SAS. The project aim, target groups, work packages and lead partners were presented as well. Lastly, dates for all transnational project meetings were discussed, and the partners’ next actions were decided upon.

ESticky is configured as a digital post-it able to communicate information and transmit notifications.

In the last meeting held by the partners it was possible to analyze and discuss the 9 essential characters that make up the morphology of the device, such as the display – evaluating its size and brightness – the insertion of a LED light to visually reinforce the message or the expected energy consumption.

Dwelling on how the eSticky box must be assembled is an essential element for good operation. If the device is not designed and optimized for the established purpose, it will be not very adaptive and will not be able to offer the requested help. This design phase is delicate, and each partner has contributed energetically to ensure that the product has a positive outcome. Choosing to be able to implement acoustic or light devices in the system to reinforce the meaning of the message is a valid help. 

In light of the considerations that emerged from the eSticky team meeting, it is necessary to collaborate to achieve high performance.

The eSticky project is proceeding at full speed and the researches oriented to its functioning are more and more precise.

One of the aspects that deserves attention is the application of industrial design, the purpose of which is to be able to optimize ergonomic and functional systems and products through the use of “scientific design”. Designing an aesthetically pleasing product, through a highly technical design, allows you to create quality products with a decidedly positive feedback.

It should be emphasized that, in projects such as eSticky, good design and good usability are the undisputed protagonists in making the user experience enjoyable, especially if the products are aimed at elderly people with problems related to the functioning of memory.

Helping those suffering from Alzheimer’s or dementia is possible, but a substantial technological, social and communicative effort must be made so that these people can preserve their autonomy in daily actions: thanks to the development of eSticky simple routine gestures, such as hiring a medication, they will never take a back seat.