Study on Smart Home Interface Design Characteristics Considering the Influence of Age Difference: Focusing on Sliders

Evaluating functional ability in older adults' object retrieval behavior from kitchen furniture using OpenPose and REBA

The purpose of this study is to evaluate, through analysis, the ability of older persons to retrieve items from kitchen cabinets. To achieve this goal, data were collected from 128 valid questionnaires and supplemented with field research and user interviews. The study revealed that the elderly's behavior in retrieving items from kitchen spaces is characterized by both high frequency and difficulty. For this experiment, a total of 42 participants, comprising 21 males and 21 females from the self-care elderly population in the Yangtze River Delta region, were recruited. Two different experimental settings were arranged: one with kitchen utensils arranged in a straight line and another with a purpose-made chest of drawers with varying heights. Video recordings using the Logitech C930C were utilized to capture the gestures and behaviors of the elderly while retrieving objects from the kitchen cupboards (cabinets). By employing a combination of the OpenPose model and the Rapid Entire Body Assessment (REBA) method, which involves calculating human posture angles, REBA scores, and determining the risk level of Work-Related Musculoskeletal Disorders (WMSDs), a risk assessment framework for manual operations associated with WMSDs was developed. Using the angle data acquired from the user operation experiment as parameters, a gradient model of the elderly user's operational capability was established. The findings indicated a significant impact of neck, trunk, and knee movements on the subjects (P < 0.001). The participants were able to distinguish between different levels of exertion, categorizing movements as 'easy', 'moderate,' or 'strenuous.' These results form the basis for a comfort gradient model for leaning over and retrieving items. Given the prevalent conditions of bone and joint degeneration and osteoporosis among the elderly population, it is evident that they face challenges when accessing items in the kitchen. Therefore, investigating the elderly's execution abilities during the retrieval process becomes crucial. Understanding how different cabinet heights impact the joint angles of the elderly can be instrumental in optimizing cabinet designs for elderly users, thereby reducing their physical exertion in the kitchen and enhancing their comfort levels. This research holds significant value in improving the quality of life for the elderly population at home and fostering the advancement of elderly-friendly design principles.

An empirical study on the collaborative usability of age-appropriate smart home interface design

Introduction

The smart home has become a popular product, but with the development of the aging population, the differentiated characteristics of the elderly smart home products in terms of demand and use are becoming more and more significant. The existing smart products are complicated to operate and cumbersome to interact with, which increases the cognitive load of the elderly group and hinders the daily use and user experience feeling of the elderly. The purpose of this paper is to study the interface data information and interface visual design starting from hardware and software, interface interaction, to explore the better interface data information and interface visual design, and to output, a new prototype of the operating interface of smart home system for the elderly, so that the smart products can be better used by the elderly.

Methods

Thirty-two participants aged 55-75 were invited to conduct the test, and subjective evaluation was conducted at the end of the test. Through the tests, the operability of the prototype structure for smart furniture systems for the elderly was demonstrated.

Results

In terms of functionality a new task based on a combination of icons and text is proposed. In the control of devices, the switching status of devices, etc., needs to be clearly distinguished visually, eye-protective bright colors are used, paired with low saturation to highlight the focus, and high bright colors with gray to distinguish the device status. In terms of the density of the content, an appropriate proportion of images and text were used to make the information less dense. ln the arrangement of web content, information content relevant to users was placed first as much as possible.

Discussion

Based on this, a secondary optimal design was carried out to improve the interactive design of the smart home for the elderly and output it as a prototype interactive interface. Thus, the operability, rationality, and aesthetic comfort of the prototype design of smart home interaction in an age-friendly scenario are improved, allowing the elderly to have a better experience when using the smart home.

Development of a Smart Home Interface With Older Adults: Multi-Method Co-Design Study

BACKGROUND

Smart home technologies have the potential to support aging in place; however, older people's perceptions of the value of smart homes may be influenced by their access to the information gathered by the technology. This information is needed to support their informed decision-making. Limited research has been conducted on how best to design visualizations of smart home data in keeping with the needs and wishes of older people.

OBJECTIVE

We aimed to investigate the design options that impact the usefulness of smart home systems, older people's information needs, their perceptions of data visualization, and the ways they would like information displayed to them.

METHODS

We used a qualitative approach to empower the participants as co-designers. Data collection comprised a sequence of methods such as interviews, observation, focus groups, scenario design, probes, and design workshops. Each phase informed the next. Overall, 13 older adults (n=8, 62% female and n=5, 38% male; aged 65-89 years) consented to participate. A thematic approach was used to analyze the data set, and participants were actively involved in designing the in-home interface, which enabled them to better conceptualize their needs.

RESULTS

The information collected was clustered into 5 themes: enabling home, health, and self-monitoring; enabling opportunities for social inclusion and engagement; enhancing cognitive abilities; customizability of the display; and promoting inclusion in recreation and leisure activities. These themes informed 5 design sessions in which participants co-designed visual metaphors for the themes based on their own experiences in an age-inclusive manner. Together, the participants produced a user-friendly prototype, which they chose to call My Buddy. They found it useful to receive social and cognitive triggers, as well as recommendations for special diets or activities based on their mood, health, and social status.

CONCLUSIONS

Smart home data visualization is much more than a nice-to-have option. Visualization is a must-have feature because it deepens the understanding of the information collected and means that technology provides information of value and relevance to older people. This may improve the acceptability and perceived utility of in-home technology. By understanding what older people want to know from smart home technology and considering how to visualize data in ways that work for them, we can provide an appropriate in-home interface. Such an interface would suggest ways or opportunities to connect and socialize; stimulate contact with close friends or family members; maintain awareness of health and well-being; provide support in decision-making, cognitive tasks, and daily life activities; and monitor health status. Older adults are the best co-designers for the development of visual metaphors that resonate with their own experiences. Our findings promote the development of technologies that foreground and reflect the information needs of older people and engage them as designers of the display.

Research on design elements of household medical products for rhinitis based on AHP

To improve the scientificity of household medical product design for rhinitis patients, this study used the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) to provide guidance for household medical product design strategy. In the process of design decision-making, the identification of user needs and the evaluation of the scheme depend heavily on the designer's experience and knowledge. The main contribution of this paper is to evaluate the design elements through the AHP method and apply it to the actual design work. This work can greatly reduce the risk in design decisions. First, the AHP model and evaluation matrix of design elements were established and sorted out by semantic analysis of users' research results. Second, an expert group was invited to score using the 1-9 scale method. Then, the geometric mean method was used to calculate the weight shares of different indicators so as to rank them. Finally, the strategy was proposed based on ranking indicator weights, and product design was carried out. The application of AHP can make the product design process more objective and rigorous. The design scheme of this study can provide references and ideas to promote the vigorous development of household medical products for rhinitis patients.

Impact of swiping direction on the interaction performance of elderly-oriented smart home interface: EEG and eye-tracking evidence

Introduction

Smart home technology is increasingly popular, yet not all seniors are receptive and comfortable with it. This situation recognizes that the usability of smart home interfaces is particularly important. Most studies on interface swiping direction demonstrate the advantages of horizontal over vertical swiping, but the findings lack age-based as well as gender-specific judgments.

Methods

In this paper, we use cognitive neural techniques of EEG and eye-tracking, combined with a subjective preference questionnaire, to analyze the preference of older persons for the swiping direction of smart home interfaces in a multimodal manner.

Results

The EEG data showed that swiping direction had a significant effect on potential values (p = 0.001). Also, the mean power in the δ and the θ band was enhanced during vertical swiping. Gender had no significant effect on potential values (p = 0.085), but the cognitive task was more EEG stimulating for females. The eye-tracking metrics data showed a significant effect of swiping direction on fixation duration (p = 0.047) and a non-significant effect on pupil diameter (p = 0.576). These results were consistent with the results of the subjective preference questionnaire, both demonstrating a preference for vertical swiping among participants.

Discussion

This paper uses three research tools simultaneously, combining objective perceptions as well as subjective preferences, to make the findings more comprehensive and reliable. Gender differences were also taken into account and differentiated in the data processing. The findings of this paper are different from most previous studies and better reflect the preference of elderly people for swiping directions, which can provide a reference for the future elderly-friendly smart home interface design.

Study of Ageing in Complex Interface Interaction Tasks: Based on Combined Eye-Movement and HRV Bioinformatic Feedback

Human-computer interaction tends to be intelligent and driven by technological innovation. However, there is a digital divide caused by usage barriers for older users when interacting with complex tasks. To better help elderly users efficiently complete complex interactions, a smart home's operating system's interface is used as an example to explore the usage characteristics of elderly users of different genders. This study uses multi-signal physiological acquisition as a criterion. The results of the study showed that: (1) Older users are more attracted to iconic information than textual information. (2) When searching for complex tasks, female users are more likely to browse the whole page before locating the job. (3) Female users are more likely to browse from top to bottom when searching for complex tasks. (4) Female users are more likely to concentrate when performing complex tasks than male users. (5) Males are more likely to be nervous than females when performing complex tasks.

Global Research Trends on Smart Homes for Older Adults: Bibliometric and Scientometric Analyses

A growing aging population across the world signifies the importance of smart homes equipped with appropriate technology for the safety and health of older adults. Well-designed smart homes can increase the desire of older adults' aging-in-place and bring economic benefits to the country by reducing budgets for care providers. To obtain a structural overview and provide significant insights into the characteristics of smart homes for older adults, this study conducted bibliometric and scientometric analyses. We used the Web of Science Core Collection database, searching for keywords "smart home*", "home automation", or "domotics" with terms related to older adults, resulting in a total of 1408 documents. VOSviewer software was used to map and visualize the documents. The results showed that research on smart homes for older adults began appearing from 1997 and increased steadily, peaking from 2015. The main research areas were technical engineering fields, such as computer science and engineering, telecommunications with minimal research in humanities, social sciences, and design, indicating the necessity to expand research toward a human-centered perspective, age-friendly technology, and convergence study.

The impact of different age-friendly smart home interface styles on the interaction behavior of elderly users

Smart homes create a beneficial environment for the lives of elderly people and enhance the quality of their home lives. This study aims to explore the design of age-friendly interfaces that can meet the emotional needs of self-care elderly people from the perspective of functional realization of the operating interface. Sixteen elderly users aged fifty-five and above were selected as subjects with healthy eyes and no excessive drooping eyelids to obscure them. Four representative age-friendly applications with different interface designs were selected from the Android application market as the stimulus material for the experiment, and a total of fifteen pages were browsed independently. During the experiment, the ErgoLAB human-computer environment synchronization cloud platform was used to monitor and record the subjects' multidimensional physiological indicators of eye movements, skin electricity, and heart rate variability when using different styles of mobile application interfaces. Combined with the post-experimental PAD emotion scale data, the preferences of emotional interface design elements of the self-care elderly were analyzed to guide the subsequent design practice. The results show that: on the layout characteristics of the home page, a simple and intuitive multi-column layout or card layout combined with a bottom navigation bar type main navigation is used; on the choice of the main color, a single color with low saturation is used as the main color, with high saturation color accents to play a role in highlighting key information; on the information density of the home page, a moderate proportion of graphics and text is adopted, with low information density; on the arrangement of the page content, they try to give priority to information content with high user relevance.

The Impact of Interface Design Element Features on Task Performance in Older Adults: Evidence from Eye-Tracking and EEG Signals

It is crucial that the interface design of mobile apps be age-appropriate at this stage of global aging, as the new epidemic has resulted in a higher sense of isolation among older persons. In this study, four typical senior social service mobile applications were chosen to give older persons the ability to complete user login duties. The participants were 16 older adults (7 men and 9 women) aged 55 to 76. Both objective and subjective data, including task completion time, gaze length, pupil diameter changes, EEG wave amplitude changes, and subjective sensations of older persons, were gathered using a combination of eye-movement and EEG signal approaches. The program was created to investigate the effects of interface design aspects on older people’s task performance, including interface layout, interface color, information density, icon size and position, etc. The study’s findings revealed that when the user task completion time and average fixation duration were shorter, the line of sight was more equally distributed, the visual focus was closer to the login button, and the average EEG amplitude of the user changed more, the older adults performed better. The palace layout had a more positive effect on job completion among older individuals when it came to interface layout. In terms of interface color, colored (contrasting) colors should serve to highlight the interface’s essential information points while they can be removed. In terms of interface information density, a low-density level interface design can simplify and lower the cognitive load of task execution for older people. The first level of icons in the interface and their position in the visual center of the interface is the best interface design for older persons in terms of icon size and position. The results of this study have theoretical ramifications for a thorough understanding of the factors influencing older people’s task performance, practical ramifications for the design of older people-centered interfaces, and they contribute to our understanding of the characteristics of older people’s interface interaction behavior.

An Empirical Study on the Influence of Smart Home Interface Design on the Interaction Performance of the Elderly

The concept of the smart home has been widely recognized and accepted, but the differentiated characteristics of elderly smart products in terms of demand and use are becoming more and more prominent. The lack of an efficient navigation design of the smart product interface increases the cognitive burden of elderly users, and how to better meet the needs of the elderly with smart products gradually becomes the focus of attention. This study was conducted for the elderly group, using the scenario-based design method to analyze the needs of elderly users, combining the research results of scenario theory with the smart home interaction design research method, focusing on how to make the style of interface navigation, sliding layout and button size more suitable for the cognitive behavior of elderly users. The purpose of this research is to realize an age-friendly smart home interaction design in terms of functional design and interface design. The experiment is divided into two stages: in stage 1, two different layouts and operation methods are commonly used for the age-friendly smart home interface: up and down sliding and left and right sliding; in stage 2, the functional buttons are square, where 4 styles are selected, and the side lengths are set to 10 mm, 12 mm, 15 mm, 18 mm and 22 mm. The sliding and retrieval test and retrieval and click test results show that for different sliding layout methods, the interactive performance and subjective evaluation of the interface with the up-and-down sliding layout are better. Among all functional button styles, the interaction performance and subjective evaluation of the simple button style with lines are the best. Among the function keys with a size of 10–22 mm, the interaction performance is better from 12 mm to 18 mm. The conclusion of the better interface data information obtained from this experiment improves the rationality of the age-friendly smart home interface and makes the smart home interface better for the age-friendly scenario.