Category: Social Technologies

Developing a Sustainable, Needs-based Roadmap for Social and Assistive Robots for Older Care

Social Technologies

Symposium

Authors: Louise Veling is a Senior Post-Doctoral Researcher with the Horizon 2020 SHAPES Project as part of the Assisted Living and Learning (ALL) Institute / Department of Engineering at Maynooth University. Rudi Villing is a Lecturer with the School of Engineering at Maynooth University, Programme Director of the BSc in Robotics & Intelligence Devices, member of the Hamilton Institute and associate director of the Assisted Living and Learning (ALL) institute.

Left to Right Rudi Villing, Louise Veling
Rudi Villing and Louise Veling

Few people would dispute the importance of centring older people’s needs when it comes to developing assistive technologies. For assistive robots, this is even more important. As in other fields, within robotics and human-robot interaction (HRI) research, older people are often subject to stereotypical representations and ageist attitudes. Assistive robots are also still in their infancy, with few yet deployed in practice, so there is still some distance to go before robots make it out of the lab and into the real world. What they will be capable of and how they will be used is still in a process of negotiation.

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How We Can Improve Digital Health Technology for Older Adults: Inclusive Processes and Measuring Meaningful Outcomes

Social Technologies

Author: Dr Richard Vance, Post-Doctoral Researcher, Department of Psychology and Assisting Living & Learning (ALL) Institute, Maynooth University

Dr Richard Vance
Dr Richard Vance

“I fear the day when technology overlaps our humanity” goes a quote, which is dubiously attributed to Albert Einstein on the internet—sometimes you can trust technology, sometimes you can’t.

Last week was Social Justice Week in Maynooth, and it’s as good a time as any to reflect on whether we’re making a positive difference to the lives of others and the world around us. I want to look at how we’re approaching the design and provision of digital health technologies for older adults to promote health and well-being and reduce inequality.

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Social robots in real-life environments

Social Technologies

Authors: Negin M Harandi– PhD student, Department of Sociology, Maynooth University. Funded by ADVANCE CRT (SFI), Fatima Ayoub – PhD student, Department of Electronic Engineering, Maynooth University. Funded by ADVANCE CRT (SFI)

Pictured Mylo Robot
Pictured Mylo Robot – CR Robotics/Mylo

Can robots be social? Can we start to think of them as our co-workers, companions, teachers, or caregivers? Would they make our lives easier or is there a robot-dominated dystopian future already awaiting us? These are some of the questions that might pop into anyone’s head when hearing about social robots. Thinking about how AI could be more social is always interesting. We are an extremely social species and often like to imagine what happens when something other than a human is able to act like a human.

On 19 April 2021, the ALL institute hosted a seminar on “Social robots: the ultimate test for AI and robotics”.  Professor Tony Belpaeme (Ghent University) introduced by Dr Rudi Villing (Maynooth University), took us through a few experiments with social robots in different social settings and we got the chance to see how social robots were performing as teaching assistants, therapy assistants and caregivers.

This was especially interesting to us as our PhD projects are about robots. Although we have different ways of studying and looking at social robots as a sociology student and an electronic engineering student, being able to see some of the shortcomings and challenges of using social robots in real social environments was fascinating for both of us.

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Digital Visual Arts and Cognitive Neuroscience: Keeping the “me” in memory research

Social Technologies

Author: Dr Richard Roche, Dept of Psychology

Maynooth Illuminations exhibition space - Maynooth University
Maynooth Illuminations exhibition space – Maynooth University

Memory is arguably the most important cognitive function we possess, and its loss leaves a profound gap in many aspects of life. The progressive deterioration of brain structures responsible for memory – so common in old age, and even more so in degenerative conditions – robs people of so much: their most treasured moments, their ability to recognise friends and family, their independence, their confidence, their very sense of self. While pharmaceutical remedies for memory decline remain unsuccessful, research with lifestyle-based, non-pharmacological interventions may offer promising avenues for the future. Among these approaches in Reminiscence Therapy, whereby older people – often in group settings – meet regularly to actively recall and share memories from earlier life epochs, with the process often steered by a moderator. At one time, older adults reminiscing was considered a worrying sign, suggesting some form of regression, but since Butler’s seminal paper in 1961, the benefits of reminiscence – resolving affairs, giving meaning to life – have been well studied, leading to the adoption of Reminiscence Therapy in many care homes and hospitals.

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Social Technologies and Ubimus for Wellbeing

Social Technologies

Authors:  Joseph Timoney, Azeema Yaseen and Damien McEvoy – , Department of Computer Science, Maynooth University

Azeema Yaseen, Damien McEvoy & Joseph Timoney

 Social technologies enable meaningful social interactions between people, devoid of geographical and time constraints. These technologies are facilitated by a networked communication capability, for example the Internet or a mobile device. We can say, they act as a bridge between humans, no matter how remote they are from each other. Do you know that Facebook, Twitter, and Skype are social technology enabled social networks? If you have an internet connection, they are accessible. Some of these tools are general purpose, while others are domain specific, such as those targeted for health (e.g., wearables and mobile Health), or music (e.g., SoundCloud, Spotify). The three branches of social technologies are illustrated in Figure 1. below.

Figure 1

The development and application of social technologies will promote aims driven by the All institute; The ALL institute aims to facilitate human living and improve the quality of lives across any boundaries, supported by appropriate technologies. To achieve this, the All Institute provides an unparalleled interdisciplinary environment to develop and promote such technologies.

Aligning with this aim, our research interest is the intersection between the two in the form of social technologies for healthcare (patient-practitioners) through musical activities. The theme of our work is ‘Ubiquitous music (ubimus)’ and has a strong social and community underpinning. Our objective is to create social music technology applications: they facilitate networked interaction and engagement that would otherwise be impossible. This will allow inter-connections between people to raises their sense of wellbeing through creative activity, which is increasingly recognised as being important to all aspects of peoples’ health.

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Creating this Accessible Blog Site: Taking small steps to making accessibility a reality

Social Technologies

Click here for audio version

Author:  Hilary Hooks, Department of Law, ALL Institute, Maynooth University

Hilary Hooks - profile picture

Earlier this year I was tasked with creating an accessible blogsite for the ALL Institute.  While I welcomed the opportunity to do so, my background and expertise is that of an administrator, with little web accessibility experience.  The process of making this blog site as accessible as possible has been a steep learning curve for me and I would like to share some of my new-found understanding of the issues and accessibility tools. 

The UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) states that access to “information and communications, including information and communications technologies and systems” is a human right (Article 9 CRPD), and, among other things, requires States Parties to the Convention to ensure that websites are accessible to people with disabilities.

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