Emerging technologies are rapidly transforming modern health care. From the implementation of electronic medical records to the explosion of online health care information to new technological approaches to treating patients, health care technology is moving quickly.
Come listen as the School of Emerging Technologies presents the results of two ongoing faculty projects:
- The Perceived Credibility of Weight Management Apps/Websites (J. Jerome)
- Context Aware Assistive Solution for People with Cognitive Disabilities (S. Acharya, J. Feng, R. Greenhaw, C. Holmes, Z. Tang)
The Perceived Credibility of Weight Management Apps/Websites
Apps and websites aimed at helping individuals make lifestyle changes to management their weight are readily available. However, the market place is buyer-beware regarding the accuracy, credible and evidence-base of these technologies. Inaccurate or ineffective apps/websites could lead to frustration and more serious health complications. We examine results of two different pilot surveys examining user perceptions of the credibility and evidence-base of apps and websites used for weight management. We will also discuss the design of two on-going pilot studies that educate participants to the strengths and weakness of available apps and supplement this technology with evidenced based approaches to weight loss.
Context Aware Assistive Solution for People with Cognitive Disabilities
Individuals on the autism spectrum face significant challenges in terms of learning and maintaining every day skills. They also experience periods of sensory-based challenges that require significant levels of support for even basic activities. Therefore, individuals with ASD need constant prompts and visual support to assist their skill development and maintenance. We are developing a portable context aware assistive application that takes advantage of context information (e.g., location, time, personal schedule) to provide intelligent support for individuals with ASD in their everyday life. The prompts will assist users to acquire, maintain, and generalize new skills. The prompts will also help users when they experience executive functioning, motor planning, and sensory processing challenges. The automated, portable, assistive aid would augment the ability of individuals with ASD to live an independent life and provide some relief to the primary support people in their life. During the talk, we will discuss the finding of requirement collection user studies, the system architecture, and design considerations. We will also demonstrate an initial proof-of-idea prototype.
Date: Friday, October 25, 2013
Time: 11 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.
Place: Institute for Well Being, Room 209
Parking: Parking is available at the Institute for Well Being, and a parking attendant will be present.
The School of Emerging Technologies
Established in 2011, the School of Emerging Technologies serves as an incubator for interdisciplinary faculty/student research and other forms of scholarly and creative collaborations on the study and application of emerging technologies; it also works to develop and support innovative academic programs from the baccalaureate to the doctoral level in fields involving emerging technologies.
