The work is a collection of contributions resulting from R&D efforts originated from scientific projects involving academia, technological partners, and end-user institutions. The aim is to provide a comprehensive overview of robotics technology applied to Healthcare, and discuss the anticipation of upcoming challenges. The intersection of Robotics and Medicine includes socially and economically relevant areas, such as rehabilitation, therapy, and healthcare. Innovative usages of current robotics technologies are being somewhat stranded by concerns related to social dynamics. The examples covered in this volume show some of the potential societal benefits robotics can bring and how the robots are being integrated in social environments. Despite the aforementioned concerns, a fantastic range of possibilities is being opened. The current trend in social robotics adds to technology challenges and requires R&D to think about Robotics as an horizontal discipline, intersecting social and exact sciences. For example, robots that can act as if they have credible personalities (not necessarily similar to humans) living in social scenarios, eventually helping people. Also, robots can move inside the human body to retrieve information that otherwise is difficult to obtain. The decision autonomy of these robots raises a broad range of subjects though the immediate advantages of its use are evident. The book presents examples of robotics technologies tested in healthcare environments or realistically close to being deployed in the field and discusses the challenges involved. Chapter 1 provides a comprehensive overview of Healthcare robotics and points to realistically expectable developments in the near future. Chapter 2 describes the challenges deploying a social robot in the Pediatrics ward of an Oncological hospital for simple edutainment activities. Chapter 3 focuses on Human-Robot Interaction techniques and their role in social robotics. Chapter 4 focus on R&D efforts behind an endoscopic capsule robot. Chapter 5 addresses experiments in rehabilitation with orthotics and walker robots. These examples have deep social and economic relations with the Healthcare field, and, at the same time, are representative of the R&D efforts the robotics community is developing.

This book aims to provide an international forum for scholarly researchers, practitioners and academic communities to explore the role of information and communication technologies and its applications in technical and scholarly development. The conference attracted a total of 464 submissions, of which 152 submissions (including 4 poster papers) have been selected after a double-blind review process. Academic pioneering researchers, scientists, industrial engineers and students will find this series useful to gain insight into the current research and next-generation information science and communication technologies. This book discusses the aspects of communication, data science, ambient intelligence, networking, computing, security and Internet of things, from classical to intelligent scope. The authors hope that readers find the volume interesting and valuable; it gathers chapters addressing tate-of-the-art intelligent methods and techniques for solving real-world problems along with a vision of the future research.

This thesis explores, through a mixed-methods approach, what happens when companion robots are deployed in care homes for older adults by looking at different perspectives from key stakeholders. Nine studies are presented with decision makers in municipalities, care staff and older adults, as participants, and the studies have primarily been carried out in the field in care homes and activity centres, where both qualitative (e.g., observations and workshops) and quantitative data (surveys) have been collected. The thesis shows that companion robots seem to be here to stay and that they can contribute to a higher quality of life for some older adults. It further presents some challenges with a certain discrepancy between what decision makers want and what staff might be able to facilitate. For future research and use of companion robots, it is key to evaluate each robot model and potential use case separately and develop clear routines for how they should be used, and most importantly, let all stakeholders be part of the process. The knowledge contribution is the holistic view of how different actors affect each other when emerging robot technology is introduced in a care environment. Den här avhandlingen utforskar vad som händer när sällskapsrobotar införs på omsorgsboenden för äldre genom att titta på perspektiv från olika intressenter. Nio studier presenteras med kommunala beslutsfattare, vårdpersonal och äldre som deltagare. Studierna har i huvudsak genomförts i fält på särskilda boenden och aktivitetscenter där både kvalitativa- (exempelvis observationer och workshops) och kvantitativa data (enkäter) har samlats in. Avhandlingen visar att sällskapsrobotar verkar vara här för att stanna och att de kan bidra till en högre livskvalitet för vissa äldre. Den visar även på en del utmaningar med en viss diskrepans mellan vad beslutsfattare vill införa och vad personalen har möjlighet att utföra i sitt arbete. För framtida forskning och användning av sällskapsrobotar är det viktigt att utvärdera varje robotmodell och varje användningsområde var för sig och ta fram tydliga rutiner för hur de ska användas, och viktigast av allt, låta alla intressenter vara en del av processen. Kunskapsbidraget med avhandlingen är en helhetssyn på hur olika aktörer påverkar varandra när ny robotteknik introduceras i en vårdmiljö

The report “Dementia: a public health priority” has been jointly developed by WHO and Alzheimer's Disease International. The purpose of this report is to raise awareness of dementia as a public health priority, to articulate a public health approach and to advocate for action at international and national levels.

The two-volume set LNCS 8547 and 8548 constitutes the refereed proceedings of the 14th International Conference on Computers Helping People with Special Needs, ICCHP 2014, held in Paris, France, in July 2014. The 132 revised full papers and 55 short papers presented were carefully reviewed and selected from 362 submissions. The papers included in the first volume are organized in the following topical sections: accessible media; digital content and media accessibility; 25 years of the Web: weaving accessibility; towards e-inclusion for people with intellectual disabilities; the impact of PDF/UA on accessible PDF; accessibility of non-verbal communication; emotions for accessibility (E4A), games and entertainment software; accessibility and therapy; implementation and take-up of e-accessibility; accessibility and usability of mobile platforms for people with disabilities and elderly persons; portable and mobile platforms for people with disabilities and elderly persons; people with cognitive disabilities: At, ICT and AAC; autism: ICT and AT; access to mathematics, science and music and blind and visually impaired people: AT, HCI and accessibility.

The 13th International Conference on Human–Computer Interaction, HCI Inter- tional 2009, was held in San Diego, California, USA, July 19–24, 2009, jointly with the Symposium on Human Interface (Japan) 2009, the 8th International Conference on Engineering Psychology and Cognitive Ergonomics, the 5th International Conference on Universal Access in Human–Computer Interaction, the Third International Conf- ence on Virtual and Mixed Reality, the Third International Conference on Internati- alization, Design and Global Development, the Third International Conference on Online Communities and Social Computing, the 5th International Conference on Augmented Cognition, the Second International Conference on Digital Human Mod- ing, and the First International Conference on Human Centered Design. A total of 4,348 individuals from academia, research institutes, industry and gove- mental agencies from 73 countries submitted contributions, and 1,397 papers that were judged to be of high scientific quality were included in the program. These papers - dress the latest research and development efforts and highlight the human aspects of the design and use of computing systems. The papers accepted for presentation thoroughly cover the entire field of human-computer interaction, addressing major advances in knowledge and effective use of computers in a variety of application areas.

Ongoing advancements in modern technology have led to significant developments in artificial intelligence. With the numerous applications available, it becomes imperative to conduct research and make further progress in this field. Artificial Intelligence: Concepts, Methodologies, Tools, and Applications provides a comprehensive overview of the latest breakthroughs and recent progress in artificial intelligence. Highlighting relevant technologies, uses, and techniques across various industries and settings, this publication is a pivotal reference source for researchers, professionals, academics, upper-level students, and practitioners interested in emerging perspectives in the field of artificial intelligence.